Will Smith revealed that his son Jaden Smith was left feeling “betrayed” after the father-son duo starred in the infamous box office bomb After Earth in 2013. Smith claims he had coached Jaden Smith into the biggest failure of his early career, causing a rift after Jaden’s breakout with The Karate Kid.

Will-Smith-and-Jaden-Smith

The high-profile flop embarrassed the young Jaden Smith and severely damaged the trust he had in his superstar father’s guidance and judgment. According to Will, 15-year-old Jaden Smith went from the heights of his first major hit with The Karate Kid to the ignominy of After Earth, which earned a humiliating 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and lost millions. The 54-year-old actor accepts blame for the “debacle” of the film, which drove a wedge between them that took years to recover from.

Jaden Smith Had Just Found Success With The Karate Kid

Before taking on After Earth, a 15-year-old Jaden Smith had just come off his first major acting success with the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid. He received praise for capably leading the film alongside Jackie Chan, establishing himself as an up-and-coming talent after earlier child roles.

After Earth Jaden Smith

According to Will Smith, this early success led Jaden Smith to fully trust his judgment.

“With The Karate Kid, he found that magic connection with the public of ‘I can do this.”
That trust in his father quickly evaporated after their disastrous sci-fi project After Earth in 2013. Will Smith had conceived the film as a starring vehicle for the two, with Jaden Smith playing his on-screen son.

After Earth Was A “Father-Son Debacle” That Strained Their Bond

After Earth earned a humiliating 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and lost millions for Sony Pictures.
“When we did After Earth, it was the worst public mauling either of us had ever experienced,” Will Smith admitted. “He felt so betrayed that I had led him into this worst possible public mauling.”

The film was ravaged by critics and flopped at the box office, stalling Jaden Smith’s momentum.

The Karate-Kid

For Jaden Smith, the film’s failure marked a painful setback following the heights of The Karate Kid.
His father accepts the blame for the “debacle” of a film, which ended up driving a wedge between the two. “It took years for Jaden to trust my leadership again,” the 54-year-old confessed.

Jaden Smith Felt He Had Been Sabotaged By His Own Father

For Jaden Smith, the embarrassment of After Earth’s failure was worsened by the fact his own father had ushered him into the doomed project. He felt Will Smith’s poor judgment had directly led to the scornful reactions.

After Earth

“At 15 years old, Jaden Smith had had the number one movie and then made the number one box office flop of my career,” Will Smith explained. “It was as if I had purposefully and with full knowledge driven him into the most humiliating failure of his public life.”

After Earth taught the older Smith a difficult lesson about trying to manufacture movie stardom for his son. He admits pushing Jaden Smith too fast into a high-profile flop that derailed his career and betrayed the trust he had in his famous father’s guidance. The strain between them took years to fully recover from.