Will Smith daughter Willow reveals why she stepped away from career as child star

Will Smith's daughter Willow Smith revealed she decided to step down from her career as a child star to save herself from going down a “dark path.”

During her appearance on SiriusXM’s Bevelations, the Memories singer opened up about how she once felt she had “touched a sadness” very early in her life.

Willow said she “needed to be a kid” before fully exploring her career opportunities after tasting success at a very young age.

“I saw at a very young age … the dark path I could have gone down,” she said. “I kind of caught myself before my coping mechanisms started too early.”

“Going into 12 I had touched a sadness that I didn’t know existed,” added Willow. “And that was terrifying.”

“Because I was like, ‘I’ve never felt this before. This is obviously not healthy and I need this top this before it becomes a darker place,’” Willow recalled.

“Realistically in my young mind … I just knew it felt wrong. I just knew it. I just knew everything felt wrong even though I experience fear in my everyday life pertaining to my music [now].

“The fear is an ‘upward and forward motion’ fear,” she shared. “It’s not a deep, heartbreaking, like, world-shattering fear. I really just think my higher self was like, ‘No. This is going to go bad for you.’ And I just had to listen.”