Willow Smith hits back at critics
Willow Smith says she doesn't need validation from anyone but herself.
The 13-year-old daughter of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith has come under fire in recent weeks after a photograph of her lying on a bed fully clothed with 20-year-old actor Moises Arias was published.
The teen and her family all defended the picture stating the pair are just friends.
But Willow appeared to feel compelled to address the controversy on her own in a tweet posted on Wednesday.
"Kids are constantly told they have to be validated by an outside source, in school at home ect [sic]," she wrote her 3.77 million followers.
"But the truth is, the only one that needs to validate you is you."
Radar Online previously reported the photo had prompted an investigation by the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services. An unnamed source told the outlet the investigation was formally opened last week and is being taken very seriously. A spokesperson from the agency did not confirm the claims.
"Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been extremely cooperative with officials. Of course they aren't happy that their parenting skills are under scrutiny but they understand," the source said.
Moises is a close friend of Willow's older brother Jaden. Their mother Jada, 42, has previously vocalised how furious and disappointed she was in how people had reacted to her daughter's photograph.
"Here's the deal: there was nothing sexual about that picture or that situation," she told photographers at Los Angeles airport, according to TMZ.
"You guys are projecting your trash onto it and you're acting like covert paedophiles and that's not cool."
