Before Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith became one of Hollywood’s most famous celebrity couples, Smith was married to his first wife, Sheree Zampino. The couple were married from 1992 to 1995 and welcomed one son together, Trey Smith. Today, the King Richard star’s ex and current wife get along just fine, but that wasn’t always the case. Zampino guest hosted a recent episode of Pinkett Smith’s talk show, Red Table Talk, and the two women discussed their shaky start. Zampino even opened up about a family situation in which she thought Pinkett Smith was “out of line.” Read on to find out more about the early days of their relationship.
READ THIS NEXT: Will Smith Says This Co-Star Shut Him Down When He Tried to Date Her.
During their Red Table Talk conversation, Pinkett Smith and Zampino discussed the early days of their dynamic. Pinkett Smith claimed that her issues stemmed from not understanding what Zampino and Smith being previously married really meant, especially since they had a child together.
“For me, it really was just about maturity,” Pinkett Smith said. “Just not understanding the marital dynamic. Like, ‘OK, if divorce papers are sent and people are over it, then this is done.’ Guess what? It ain’t never done.” She continued, “So that was my biggest misconception … This woman is part of this family.”
Pinkett Smith told Zampino, “I imagine it definitely took some forgiveness on your part, because I can remember some times that I really crossed the line.” The Girls Trip star brought up one example in which she tried to talk to Zampino about Trey’s behavior—but not behavior that was happening in Pinkett Smith’s home.
“I literally walked in the house, just to drop him off, and as soon as I walked in, Jada was like, ‘Listen, we got to talk about his behavior,'” Zampino recalled. “I was like, ‘Go get his daddy please.’ Why are you talking about what happens at my house?” She added, “It was out of line, but you did not mean any harm.”
Pinkett Smith remembered an instance in which Zampino “marched into the master bedroom” at her and Smith’s home, which was the house Zampino had previously picked out during her marriage to the actor.
“It was early on and I think you were just trying to, like, ‘I just need you to know who queen bee is around here,'” Pinkett Smith said. Zampino agreed that the move was “out of line.”
For more celebrity news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Given what she’s learned in life, Pinkett Smith knows now that she should have given Zampino and Smith more space. “I would have definitely have taken a beat as far as putting myself within the dynamic of you guys,” she said.
Zampino acknowledged that Pinkett Smith realized her misstep and apologized to her about it. “When you got it, I remember you coming to me, and you were teary, you were very emotional, and you said, ‘I just didn’t know.’ And basically what you were saying is, ‘I was in the picture too soon.’ And you apologized for that,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star explained. Zampino and Smith’s marriage wasn’t officially over yet by the time he and Pinkett Smith started a relationship. Smith and Pinkett Smith married in 1997.
Zampino and Pinkett Smith shared that one way they worked through their issues was by sending a journal back and forth in which they wrote down conversations that were perhaps too difficult to bring up face to face. They both recognized that Trey was the most important concern.
“My philosophy always was: How can I love Trey and not love the most important person in his life, which is his mother,” Pinkett said. She also thanked Zampino for being a reason for her to mature emotionally. Meanwhile, Zampino thanked Pinkett Smith for giving her “the grace to evolve.”
This was not the first time Zampino has appeared on Red Table Talk. She was on the premiere of the show in 2018 and again in 2020. In 2021, Pinkett Smith talked about their complicated relationship during an episode.
“It was really a transformation for all of us, having a blended family and getting to a place where there was ease with it and having complete, utter acceptance,” Pinkett Smith said (via Insider). “Ree has acceptance for me and all my nonsense. I have acceptance for her and all her nonsense. There’s a real beautiful sisterhood there.”