From the infamous Oscar slap to allowing their children to use psychedelics, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been embroiled in a series of scandals in the past few years.
Now, their son Jaden is facing a new wave of criticism for his body language and mannerisms captured during a recent outing.
The 27-year-old was caught by paparazzi with his hands down his trousers on the streets of Paris, prompting netizens to call him out on social media.
Highlights
- Jaden Smith was recently filmed walking into a Paris restaurant, holding hands with a woman.
- As the clip went viral, the 27-year-old was dragged online for exhibiting “nasty” behavior in public.
- The outrage comes amid Jaden’s parents, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, triggering a new wave of speculation about their marriage.
“Bro has been desperately trying to be a vibe for 18 years now,” one user said.
Jaden Smith was slammed by netizens for displaying “vulgar” behavior in public
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Jaden Smith recently traveled to the French capital for Christian Louboutin’s Menswear Spring/Summer 2027 show at Paris Fashion Week. He was appointed the men’s creative director for the French label in September 2025.
While in Paris, he was filmed stepping out of a car wearing a white T-shirt, low-waisted denim, and a metal necklace, with his right hand down his pants. With his other arm, he held hands with a woman whose face was not visible in the clip, as she wore sunglasses and a cap.
The two went into French chef Cyril Lignac’s Bar des Prés restaurant, where Jaden held the door open for the woman.
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Jaden was blasted online for his “nasty” and “unhygienic” behavior.
“I would never shake his hand. Bet he doesn’t wash his hands after going to the bathroom either,” one person said. Another wrote, “No one wants to see that, especially in a restaurant.”
“This is why I bring hand sanitizer or wet wipes everywhere,” said a third. A fourth wrote, “It's totally a trend; there are even people who find it stylish.”
Some netizens tried to identify the woman Jaden was with. A few claimed she was a new girlfriend, while others insisted she was Sabrina Zada, Jaden’s ex-partner.
The two had been romantically linked since 2020 but allegedly broke up sometime in 2024, when Jaden was photographed kissing influencer Khleopatre.
Jaden and Sabrina were spotted going out again in 2025, leading fans to believe they had reconciled.
Experts have often pronounced the habit to be a way of dealing with anxiety
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People, including those who do it themselves, have often wondered why men frequently put their hands down their pants, even when out in public. It has even prompted experts to weigh in after many on social media wondered if it was a “trend” among young men.
“I would say that belonging is an important part of wellbeing. And that the guys that do feel they belong to a tribe of people who display this behavior,” Jo Ryder, an integrative psychotherapist from Dublin, told Vice in 2022.
Dr. Andras Kolto, a senior researcher at NUI Galway, said that the physical contact helps release oxytocin, a hormone that regulates our mood and eases anxiety.
Image credits: Hatice Baran/Pexels (not an actual photo)
“Psychologists see this as self-soothing behaviors,” Dr. Kolto told Vice.
Dr. Babak Ashrafi mirrored the statement in an assessment provided to Cosmopolitan in 2023: “It's a complex behavior influenced by cultural, social, psychological, and physiological factors.”
Dr. Ashrafi listed friction from underwear, fungal infections, temperature discomfort, or even a “coping mechanism” for stress as potential reasons for the habit.
Image credits: Yogendra Singh/Pexels (not an actual photo)
In July 2025, body language expert and performance coach Martin Brooks told The Times that the behavior boiled down to three things: nervous energy, societal norms, and a desire to rebel.
“Previously, people smoked, and it was not necessarily because they liked it — I didn’t — but it is a way of telling older people, ‘I’ll do what I like,’” Brooks explained the third point.
Darren Stanton, a former police officer and behavioral expert, blamed the pandemic: “Lots of things people did indoors have become more acceptable… COVID desensitized it.”
Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s recent reunion got netizens talking
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Will and Jada Pinkett Smith recently united for Jaden’s show in Paris, and the two posed together with the rest of the family — their daughter, Willow, Will’s son from his first marriage, Trey, and Jada’s mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris.
“Makin’ me a proud dad,” Will wrote on his Instagram, sharing some snaps from the event, which featured a recreation of Stonehenge.
The pictures reignited the conversation surrounding their unconventional marital arrangement, with many wondering why they chose to remain officially married.
Will and Jada’s marriage has been a subject of speculation ever since it came to light that they’ve been separated since 2016.
In an explosive revelation in a July 2020 episode of her podcast, Red Table Talk, featuring her husband, Jada confessed that she had an “entanglement” with his son’s friend, musician August Alsina, who is 20 years younger than her.
Over the next few years, Will and Jada have repeatedly confirmed that they remain legally married, even though they live separately. They have not explicitly said anything about being in an open marriage either.
Then came Will Smith’s controversial Oscar incident in 2022, when he walked onto the stage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada’s alopecia.
Jada later told Daily Mail’s YOU magazine that the moment strengthened their relationship: “After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will’s side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him.”
The Girls Trip actress fell out of the internet’s favor in 2023 when Jaden admitted that she introduced psychedelic substances to their family. She had previously shared that she used “plant medicine” to help her with depression.
"Way too performative." The internet trolled Jadem Smith for walking with his hands down his trousers
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