Sheree Zampino Reveals Why She Had A Rocky Start With Jada Pinkett Smith
"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Sheree Zampino was married to "King Richard" Oscar-winning actor Will Smith from 1992 through 1995 and they share one son, Trey, per People. When Smith went on to marry actor Jada Pinkett in 1997, the families had some tension, and "The Pursuit of Happyness" star dealt with a lot of pain during that time.
"Divorce was the worst thing in my adult life," he revealed during a 2020 episode of Pinkett Smith's Facebook Watch show "Red Table Talk." "Divorce was the ultimate failure for me. I've been hurt a lot in my adult life, but I don't think anything touches the failure of getting divorced from my 2-year-old son's mother." Pinkett Smith also admitted that Zampino, "was my entry point to motherhood ... I was co-mothering with her. At that particular time, before [having a blended family] was popular, before it was even an idea, we were trying to create something that we had never experienced," per Us Weekly.
These days, the blended Smith family gets along great, with Zampino appearing frequently as a guest on "Red Table Talk," alongside Pinkett Smith's mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and daughter Willow Smith for holiday cooking jamborees (per BET), and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star has even dedicated Instagram posts to his ex-wife, gushing about his love for the "#BestBabyMamaEver." But in a new interview, Zampino went into detail about why her relationship with Pinkett Smith had a rocky start.
Sheree Zampino reveals the source of their rivalry
Speaking with Us Weekly on August 8, Will Smith's first wife Sheree Zampino revealed that her relationship with Smith's second wife Jada Pinkett Smith was strained in the early days because Pinkett Smith didn't understand the nuances of motherhood. "When Will and Jada got together, Jada wasn't a mom," Zampino told the outlet. "So, she wasn't experienced, she didn't have a certain understanding. ... So, that sometimes caused a little friction."
This isn't the first time both women have admitted as much on Pinkett Smith's Facebook Watch show "Red Table Talk." For the premiere episode back in 2018, Zampino was the first guest, and Pinkett Smith admitted she had "insensitivities" and "inconsideration in regards to you guys unwinding a marriage." They laughed about an incident where Zampino told Pinkett Smith on the phone that she was living in the house she picked out, to which Pinkett Smith shot back, "It's my house now," per Us Weekly. Pinkett Smith added, "Because I did not understand marriage, I did not understand divorce, I probably should have fell back," per Today.
Now, Pinkett Smith and Zampino share what the former calls "a beautiful sisterhood." "When I think about our relationship now, there's a real sisterhood there," she said on "Red Table Talk" in 2021, per Insider. "But it took 20-some years."