Willow Smith Says Growing Up in the Public Eye Was 'Excruciatingly Terrible'

Willow Smith is getting candid about the difficulties of growing up in the spotlight.

The 17-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith says figuring out who she is in the public eye was “excruciatingly terrible.”

“Growing up and trying to figure out your life…while people feel like they have some sort of entitlement to know what’s going on, is absolutely, excruciatingly terrible. And the only way to get over it, is to go into it,” Willow told Girlgaze Zine.

She added, “You can’t change your face. You can’t change your parents. You can’t change any of those things.”

“I feel like most kids like me end up going down a spiral of depression, and the world is sitting there looking at them through their phones; laughing and making jokes and making memes at the crippling effect that this lifestyle has on the psyche,” Willow continued.

“When you’re born into it, there are two choices that you have; I’m either going to try to go into it completely and help from the inside, or…no one is going to know where I am…and I’m really going to take myself completely out of the eye of society. There’s really no in-between,” she concluded.