What appeared to be every congressional staffer under the age of 25 lined up at the Hart Building Tuesday morning to catch a glimpse of Jada Pinkett Smith, her husband Will Smith and daughter Willow, as she testified on human trafficking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pinkett Smith, dressed in a camel-colored suit, spoke about the work her organization, Don’t Sell Bodies, does on behalf of trafficking victims while her family sat behind her. A sneaker-clad Will kept a protective arm around Willow during the hearing and gave her his checked blazer when she was cold. (She slipped her arms in the huge jacket and wore it backwards.)
At one point during testimony, committee chairman John Kerry got a little cross with the media attention drawn by the Smith family. “Can I ask the cameras to kind of minimize the clicking if possible?” he asked the photographers who packed the hearing. “I know you have to take some pictures, but you must have more than a million pictures of Will Smith from the last half hour.”
Kerry cast a withering sidelong glance at a photographer who snapped another shot seconds after his request. (We were hoping for a Will Smith-style “aw, hell naw” from the chairman, but no dice.)
The senator softened at the end of the hearing, when he commended Willow for inspiring her mother to get involved in the issue of trafficking. (Willow was inspired by watching the Kony 2012 viral video, according to Pinkett Smith’s testimony.) “I really tip my hat to her,” Kerry said. “I congratulate you, Will.” The proud papa grinned ear to ear.
