Will Smith regrets raising his children with radical honesty: ‘I’m not advocating for it’

Will Smith admits to his one major parenting mistake while promoting his upcoming “Based on a True Story” tour. 

Will Smith, who is a father to three adult children, is admitting to at least one major parenting mistake.

While promoting his upcoming tour for his new album “Based on a True Story” in the UK, the 56-year-old actor and rapper opened up about the one major mistake he considers he’s made as a father: introducing his children to radical honesty. 

“We made a very, very, very terrible mistake with our children and we went with radical honesty,” Smith said jokingly while appearing on the radio show “Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda.” “But don’t do it, I’m not advocating for it, I’m not advocating for it.” 

Smith, who shares his oldest son, Trey, 32, with his ex-wife Sheree Zampino, and his two younger children, Jaden, 26, and Willow, 24, with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, explained, “We made a deal from really young with our kids. The deal was if you tell the truth, you won’t get in trouble. ‘The only way you can get in trouble in this house is if we find out you did something and you don’t tell the truth.'”

However, he noted how the new-age parenting style quickly backfired. 

“It’s a mistake, it’s terrible. Because they do whatever they want and then just come tell you,” he said through laughter. “It’s awful don’t try it. You want your kids to lie, definitely, you don’t want to know some of the stuff your kids are thinking of doing.”

The admission arrived after Smith gave his children a special shoutout on Father’s Day on his Instagram. The “Pretty Girls” rapper uploaded videos of each of his children in their honest raw lives. In the first clip, Smith pulls Jaden up on stage with him on Father’s Day for a heartfelt moment. In the next clip, Smith is messing around with his oldest son as the veteran actor attempts to find the right light. Finally, in the third clip, he’s encouraging Willow as she learns to frost a cake. 

“Happy Father’s Day to all the dads and dad figures out there,” he wrote in the caption. 

“Based on a True Story,” released in March, marks Smith’s return to music after a 20-year hiatus. The global “Based on a True Story” tour kicks off in Rabat, Morocco, on June 25, with dates planned across France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Norway, and the UK.