‘Everything In the House Had to Go’: Willow Smith Talks About Cyber Stalker Breaking Into Her Home and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Response

Willow Smith candidly opened up during an Oct. 5 “Red Table Talk” episode about her experience with a cyber stalker breaking into her home.

Smith’s cyber stalking incident occurred after a convicted sex offender named Walter James Whaley began communicating with the singer online about how he wanted to create a family with her. Things ultimately took a turn for the worst last December after Whaley climbed the fence and tried to gain access to Smith’s California residence while she was away on vacation.

Willow Smith opened up about her cyber stalking experience on the new episode of “Red Table Talk.” Photo:@redtabletalk/Facebook

Following the event, Smith filed a restraining order against Whaley. He was instructed by a judge to stay 100 yards away from her. The 20-year-old revealed to her mother Jada Pinkett Smith and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Norris the extremes her stalker went to in order to get close to her.

“Cyberstalking is a little bit more insidious and scary. This guy was doing that to me. And he was actually doing that to me for a couple of years, actually. He basically got my patterns. During December when we were gone for a family vacation, he actually came to my house and broke in while we were away. Crazy, crazy times.”

As the conversation continued, Pinkett Smith jumped in and shared what she and her husband, Will Smith, did following the break-in to ensure Smith’s safety. “Once they [officers] got all the evidence that they needed from inside, we had to take all the stuff out of the refrigerator because we were afraid maybe he put something in the drinks or in her food to knock her out.”

The actress claimed they went as far as to check Smith’s toothpaste and her vent. “We had to go through everything. Toothpaste, everything. Everything in the house had to go … We went in the vents ’cause we didn’t know if he put cameras up. We had to really strip the whole house down. We shored her up, strongly.”

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top