Will Smith has never shied away from the truth, revealing his “horrible” wedding to wife Jada Pinkett Smith and how they threw away the “concept of marriage.” Now the King of Instagram is getting real about his relationship with one of his children.
Smith shared a touching Instagram video about the evolution of his relationship with son Trey Smith, 26, after divorcing his mother, Sheree Fletcher. “It has not always been like this between Trey & I,” he wrote.
The video begins with Smith relaxing in a robe during his trip to the United Arab Emirates. “So I’m in Abu Dhabi at the F1. I brought my son Trey. We’ve been hanging and I usually take my kids separately on stuff so they have their individual daddy time,” he said.
As Smith speaks, images of the father-son duo on their trip appear onscreen in a montage, including an adorable throwback photo.
“So we’ve been doing this, hanging at the F1, and he said, ‘You know what dad? I just realized you’re not just my dad.’ He paused and said, ‘I’m pretty sure you’re my best friend,'” an emotional Smith said as his eyes appeared to water. (Did someone cut an onion nearby?)
The “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” exhaled in an attempt to maintain his composure before replying, “yeah man, prolly…Prolly.”
Smith detailed their tumultuous relationship after ending his relationship with Fletcher, his first wife.
“We STRUGGLED FOR YEARS after my Divorce from his Mother. He felt betrayed & abandoned,” Smith captioned the video. “It is a Wild Blessing to recover & restore a Loving Relationship with My Beautiful Son!”
The feeling is mutual. Trey reposted his dad’s video, adding “awwwww shucks ♥️ you too big guy.”
Smith has been open about his family life on his wife’s Facebook Watch show “Red Table Talk,” even revealing that he met and eventually married Fletcher after initially trying to meet Pinkett Smith.
The actor said that he and Pinkett Smith had “all of these near misses,” but the two eventually ended up meeting after Smith was already married to Fletcher, though they’re adamant that they did not have an affair.
Smith recounted breaking down crying because “I knew that was the woman I was supposed to be with, but I was never getting divorced.” That is, until Smith said Fletcher filed for divorce, which gave him the opportunity to be with Pinkett Smith.
Despite their history, Smith and Fletcher have remained close. He recently wished Fletcher a happy birthday with a throwback picture of the former couple holding their newborn son. “I Love You, Ree-Ree,” adding the hashtag #BestBabyMamaEver!
