Remember a couple of months ago when Will Smith spoke about Jaden thinking about becoming an emancipated minor? Yeah, that didn’t sit very well with most of you, what with many people thinking both Willow and Jaden are a little too grown and exposed as it is. The exchange went something like this during an interview with Metro New York:

Jaden, what happens when you’re 18 and Will kicks you out of the house.

J: We’ll probably work together ‘till he retires and he probably won’t retire.

W: [Laughs] No we’ve been talking about, he’s been thinking about becoming an emancipated minor.

J: Just thoughts that pop into my head.

They made a movie about that — a girl divorced her parents.

J: Really!

Rent that, get some tips.

W: [Laughs] No, it’s not like that. More the idea that, I want him to have as much command and freedom if he is willing to accept responsibility. Those are two concepts that are inexorably bound. So he’s a very responsible young man so he’s entitled to the maximum freedom. [To Jaden] I said “inexorably.” You heard that? Someone Google that for Jaden.

But now that other publications went haywire with the information in the last few days, while sitting down with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show to promote After Earth, they decided to clear the air when she asked what was the deal with that rumor:

Jaden: “See, here’s the thing you need to explain. I’m not going anywhere. The thing that people don’t get is everything at his house is free. So, I can get anything and everything that I want at his house, so I think I’ma be there for 20, 30 more years. But uh, he says that as soon as I have a movie that’s bigger than one of his movies, then I have to get my own house.”

Will: “Ain’t no reason to live at my house no more…[laughs]

Ellen: “So where did that come from?”

Will: “I think I made a joke in Tokyo. My baby boy is never leaving me, ever! But no, no emancipation for the Smith kids.”

Source: WENNN

From HelloBeautiful

I remember vividly the first time I came to know the name Jada Pinkett. It was in the last days of “A Different World,” when the “The Cosby Show ” spin-off sitcom set on a Historically Black College campus was struggling to keep its freshness as it transitioned in to the early 90′s. Beloved characters Dwayne Wayne & Whitley Gilbert were all grown-up and professional, and the show’s once authentic connection to college life, youth culture and energy was dwindling. Insert Jada Pinkett’s Lena James, a powerful pint-sized freshman who boomed with energy and breathed new life in to cast. She joins the cast as a freshman, Lena James, introducing her self to the common area with a not so humble solo step routine: “L to the E, to the N, to the A, Step off, you ain’t getting no play!” From that moment on, in my 9 year-old mind, I was pretty sure I wanted to be her. She exemplified the spirit of what largely came to define the creative Black experience in the 90′s: loud, colorful and unapologetically proud. That was 20 years ago.

I find myself on the phone with Jada on a Thursday afternoon about a month ago. She’s in the process of doing promotions for “Free Angela And All Political Prisoners,” the brilliant documentary directed by Shola Lynch.  After a friend shared the film with her, Jada came on as a producer using her hollywood muscle to help get the film distributed in select AMC theaters nationwide. What I thought would be the typical 15-minute movie junket interview (abruptly ended by publicists listening in on the other end), turned in to a 90-minute phone call with the real Mrs. Smith about everything from her early relationship with her husband to why people should lay off Rihanna.

In what #TeamBEautiful has deemed the Best.Jada.Interview.Ever., we speak with the stylish and brutally honest A-lister about about parenting, dating, marriage, Black hollywood, and why America loves to hate on little girls. Check out the first of our three part series.

HB: You get a lot of criticism on the way you parent, has it ever bothered you?

JPS: You know what, I get it. In people eyes, I could see how it could be radical. It’s so funny the more I sit back and think about it, I was raised like this. It’s so natural to me–my situation was different; I had a lot of freedom. My mother worked a lot and she also struggled with drugs. So I had a lot of freedom at 12. But I also paid attention to where freedom worked and where it didn’t. One of the freedoms that I had was hair and clothes and how it completely [helped to] develop my self-esteem and sense of worth. And how, if I could dye my hair blue and shave it on the sides and deal with people remarks or smirks while I am walking to school, I’m good. To be able to stand tall in my own personal convictions for who I am and what I decided I wanted to be. And I was given that at a very early age. So by the time I got to 18 and I came out to LA, there was nobody out here that was going to pull me out of my own Jada game because I was very clear about who I am. You aren’t going to sucker me into to doing some crazy Isht I didn’t want to do. I didn’t have someone dictating to me along on what I need to be, and then at 18 struggling to figure out–I was already there. And the difference I see in Willow at 12 is, she’s got a loving father and the truth of the matter is that a girl’s emotional development is really strongly developed based on her relationship with her father. I just think of parenting at this: I don’t believe until waiting until a child is 18 to throw them to the world. I’d rather have kids in my house with me, building out certain freedoms as you go, and being there with them in my house while they are exercising these certain freedom so that we can be in the process in these freedoms together. When my children are 18, they will be fine. I don’t have to worry about them. Life starts when you pop out of the womb, and that’s what I believe!

Read more at HelloBeautiful.com

With her hair in a messy short cut and rocking her own Zoe Kravitz for Swarovski jewelry, who she just launched her own jewelry line for, Kravitz bared her soul and dropped her top for V magazine. She opened up about her famous mom’s worries about her dreams to act in Hollywood even when she was young, working with the swaggerific Jaden Smith and his dad for After Earth, and a lot more. Here are the specific details that had us talking:

When speaking on her early dreams of having a successful acting career (“I definitely always saw myself as a theater or an indie film actress, because those were the things I was always drawn to.”), Kravitz opened up about the fact that her mom, Lisa Bonet, had reservations about her young daughter trying to step in the public eye after. Both Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, famous folks themselves, were able to keep her very protected and out of the limelight for a long while:

“My mom’s whole thing was that she wanted me to wait until I knew what I really wanted. She’d always say, ‘Once you step into the spotlight, you can’t take it back.’”

And she’s literally everywhere now, something the Brooklyn-based actress is clearly okay with. And speaking of being everywhere, she talked about appearing in the film, After Earth, where she plays Will Smith’s daughter and Jaden Smith’s sister, Senshi. While she’s known for being a trendsetting,  pretty cool chick, she says that working with Jaden made her want to step her game up.

“There were moments that I was hanging out with Jaden and thinking, I can’t believe you’re 14, I have to check myself, like what I say to you,” she laughs. “He has so much personality and so much swag, he is so much cooler than I am.”

And it was that swag that almost got her caught up on cougar status…:

“And he’s so handsome, I was always like, When you’re older, you know, we’ll hang out…Nope, that’s inappropriate, you’re 14.”

Check out the full interview over at V’s website, where Kravitz discusses the inspirations behind her line for Swarovski, more about After Earth, and finally being embraced by Hollywood. Love her!

Source: WENN

If your panties are still in a bunch over the way Will and Jada Smith live in holy open matrimony, you might as well sit tight, because this latest detail about their approach to parenting is likely to get you riled up all over again. By now we’ve heard umpteenth explanations for why Willow can change her hair color every other day and Jaden can jet set out of the country with one of the Kardashians, but it seems the Smiths may be thinking about giving their eldest even more freedom than he already has. Essentially, at 14 years old he may become his own “man” and head of household.

In an interview with Metro New York, the father and son pair discuss their new film together “After Earth” and inevitably the conversation turned to Will’s parenting style, which seems to be much more hands off from the character he plays in the new flick. Here’s a bit of the Q&A:

When was the last time you were punished, Jaden?

W: We don’t do punishment. The way that we deal with our kids is, they are responsible for their lives. Our concept is, as young as possible, give them as much control over their lives as possible and the concept of punishment, our experience has been — it has a little too much of a negative quality. So when they do things — and you know, Jaden, he’s done things — you can do anything you want as long as you can explain to me why that was the right thing to do for your life.

J: It works pretty well.

But most teenagers aren’t naturally introspective. Jaden, do you find yourself asking yourself deep questions about your behavior and acting accordingly?

J: Yeah. Other teenagers go to parties and sometimes I be like, “Why am I here right now?” And most of the time, I just leave right then and there. Some things I don’t like to do, that other teenagers do. Everyone thinks that since you make movies, you go to parties, and I like to party, but not normal teenage parties.

Jaden, what happens when you’re 18 and Will kicks you out of the house.

J: We’ll probably work together ‘till he retires and he probably won’t retire.

W: [Laughs] No we’ve been talking about, he’s been thinking about becoming an emancipated minor.

J: Just thoughts that pop into my head.

They made a movie about that — a girl divorced her parents.

J: Really!

Rent that, get some tips.

W: [Laughs] No, it’s not like that. More the idea that, I want him to have as much command and freedom if he is willing to accept responsibility. Those are two concepts that are inexorably bound. So he’s a very responsible young man so he’s entitled to the maximum freedom. [To Jaden] I said “inexorably.” You heard that? Someone Google that for Jaden.

So, it’s not like Jaden will be out on the streets under a viaduct with a sign begging for food if he’s emancipated, but at 14, there’s still so much time for him to be an adult. Why the rush? As a matter of fact, he’ll legally be one in a little over three years after he turns 15 this July. While I absolutely think children should be rewarded with freedom when they are responsible, the responsibility that comes along with being an adult isn’t always rewarding. Jaden should enjoy the last few years left of being a carefree child.

What do you think about allowing a 14-year-old to emancipate himself from you if he’s responsible?

FayesVision/WENN.com

In an interview with Wonderland magazine, the very colorful and creative Jaden Smith discussed his upbringing, his sister (“It’s really fun working with her because she kind of gets my vision.”), and whether or not he’s getting cozy with Kim Kardashian’s little sister. With all he’s got going on, you almost forget that Smith is only 14.

From the outside looking in, it seems like it might have been overwhelming growing up as the son of two huge movie stars. And for the youngest Smith son, it initially was, especially when, as Wonderland noted, people cried and screamed when they saw his father. However, he says that he’s been extremely lucky to have the family he does. And not just because they’re extremely ballerific:

“I saw his first movie when I was one. I mean, I went to premieres before I could talk. I’m really happy and fortunate, and thankful that I can get brought up in a family as lucky as mine.”

The young’n also talked about his connection to Kylie Jenner, the 15-year-old model and little sister of Kim Kardashian, but says that they’re just friends. Good friends, but just friends. Jenner actually surprised the actor/rapper by popping up in London while he was out there doing his interview with Wonderland and promo touring for his clothing line and more:

“I was in LA, we were all hanging out. Then I went to New York and she came too, then she came here and surprised me, so that’s pretty baller. She’s one of my best friends. It’s pretty awesome.”

We always hear it’s hard for black actors and actresses in Hollywood, and we all know, not too many movies come out each year with a majority black cast, or even a black actor/actress as the lead. Despite the scarcity of roles for Black Hollywood, there are definitely films that will be representing for the brothers and sisters in 2013. The following are nine movies coming out this year that we know of so far, that feature Black actors.

The good folks over at Shadow And Act posted the first trailer for Will and Jaden Smith’s new movie, After Earth. If you haven’t heard of it, After Earth, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is about an earth that has been torn up by apocalyptic events, causing its inhabitants to move to a new home/planet called Nova Prime. Will Smith plays General Cypher Raige, and Jaden stars as Kitai Rage, a father and son team fighting to survive after Nova Prime is attacked and they find themselves having to return to Earth, which is inhabited my a whole slew of creatures and mess. When Cypher gets hurt, it is up to his son to rescue them and be the soldier that he’s always wanted to be in the eyes of his father.

Sounds hella deep right? And after watching the trailer, things get more and more complex. As Cypher (once again, Will Smith) explains to his son the importance of knowing that while danger is real, fear is a choice, Jaden is jumping off of cliffs, flying around, fighting off angry monkeys and pulling out a sick sword to help him combat all the CGI-created threats. On an interesting side note, Lenny’s daughter Zoe Kravitz plays Cypher’s daughter, and the very underrrated Sophie Okonedo plays his wife. Definitely looks and sounds interesting. Now will I pay $13 to see it when it drops next summer? Hmm…I’ll need to see a few more trailers and try and get over this accent Big Willie is trying to tote before I can give you a definite yes or no. But what about you? What do you think of the trailer?

With Willow and Jaden Smith on every screen and radio possible singing, rapping, dancing and acting, it was kind of nice to look at Will Smith’s elder son, Trey, the cute kid from the “Just The Two Of Us” video with Will, and see that he preferred to stay out of the spotlight. You know, be a regular kid who just focused on school, played football and appeared as the supportive kid, not the mini mogul in the making.

But surprise! At 20, Trey has decided to make his mark in music as well, but as a DJ, following the route of other famous youngsters like Connor Cruise (Tom’s son), and naming himself DJ AcE. The eldest Smith child dropped the track “Find You Somewhere,” a song where his younger brother spits some teen angst-like lyrics and his little sister sings the simple hook (“I…think I can find you soooomewhere…DANCE!”). Of course, they showcase some dancing skills in the video, with Willow doing ballet and the young siblings showing off some slick footwork for the cameras. I do need Jaden to keep his shirt on though…

Oh, by the way, their mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, directed the dance-heavy track, so yes, it really is a family affair. As my colleague would say, “It pays to be rich!” Want to make a video real quick? Your mom can direct it! Clearly I’m jealous.

All in all, the track is not bad, and it seems like the three Smith kids are trying to get their David Guetta on while keeping things PG-13 (“And the orange juice is still pourin’”) on the track about finding love. And can we all agree that Willow has a pretty great voice? I could live with seeing this joint just once, but I appreciate the effort. What about you?

Is this a pass or play for you?

More on Madame Noire!

• Is Ryan Gosling Singing Jodeci!? 9 White Celebrities And Their “Blackest” Moments
• Handle That For Me! Why I Want Him To Plan The Dates
• You Already Know Black Don’t Crack:15 Female Celebs Who Are Over 40 But Don’t Look It
• Where Are They Now? The Women of “Real Chance of Love”
• Are You A Rebound Queen? How To Tell If You’re Moving Too Fast…
• An Open Letter to My Single Sistas: Stop Searching For Him
• Ways to Wear Wine: Fall’s Hue Du Jour

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

Social media has given regular folk unprecedented access into the lives of the rich and famous. Unlike even five years ago, we don’t have to rely on paparazzi and gossip magazines to see pictures of our fave celebrities because the celebs are posting their own pictures! This weekend, Jada Pinkett-Smith exhibited her self-professed addiction to Instagram by posting tons of family pictures on the social media website…as well as the expected picture or two that’s NSFW.

Source: Instagram/OfficialJada

Some of the pictures were from Will and Jada’s wedding day:

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

She posted pictures of her early days:

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

And her early days as a mom:

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

She also posted a few candids:

Source: Instagram.com/OfficialJada

No matter what you think of the Smiths, they’re certainly a beautiful family. You can view more pictures here.

Follow Alissa on Twitter @AlissaInPink

More on Madame Noire!

• I’m Gonna Call It Like I See It: Celebs With No Filter
• Beauty On A Budget: 8 Delicious Drugstore Products You Can’t Live Without
• Secret Lover: Signs He May Be Hiding Something From You
• All The Single Ladies! Grown and Gorgeous Celebs Who Are Single and Satisfied!
• Why I Wish We Would Stop Advising Black Women To Date Outside The Race
• Why I Love Working With Black Women
• Because a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Celebs Who Attended Ivy League Universities

Source: screencrush.com

From blackvoices.com

Will and Jaden Smith are set to return to Philadelphia this weekend, July 20-22, in celebration of the 9th Annual Charlie Mack’s Party 4 Peace Celebrity Weekend.

Hosted by the “Men In Black” star’s longtime friend, Charles “Charlie Mack” Alston, the three day star-studded charity event will feature a dinner honoring outstanding Philadelphia youth, talented teens competition, a fashion show, and a celebrity-themed all white party among many other things.

Read more at blackvoices.com

More on Madame Noire!

• Where Are They Now? Talented R&B Divas Who’ve Gone MIA Over the Years
• But We’re Not Friends Though: How Do You Decline A Random Baby Shower Invite?
• MN Exclusive Part II: Jenifer Lewis Reflects on Her Struggle & Gives Advice to the Younger Generation
• Opening The Closet Door: 8 Singers Who Had To Deal With Speculation About Their Sexuality
• Aretha, Watch Your Back: 10 Stars Who Would Make Great Judges On “American Idol”
• Let Me Get You Straight, Girl! Advice To The Real ‘Housewives’ Of Atlanta!
• Did You Know They Dated? 10 Secret Lovers, Temporary Boos and Flings We Were Surprised By