“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” guest star Sheree Zampino gets emotional discussing a conversation she had with her son, who she shares with her ex-husband Will Smith.
Sheree Zampino recently appeared on the Red Table Talk, hosted by her ex-husband’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith, where she revealed that her son Trey Smith told her that he “didn’t feel loved” growing up.
Sheree Zampino recalled:
“ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MY SON SAID TO ME, WHEN HE STARTED TO DO THE WORK [ON FORGIVENESS], ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME UP FOR HIM, HE FELT THAT HE WASN’T LOVED.”
After explaining to her now 29-year-old son that his famous father loves him she said he told her:
“I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT HIM, I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU.”
In response, the reality star asked:
“YOU DIDN’T FEEL LOVED BY ME? SO WE HAD A CONVERSATION.”
On the podcast she explained:
“WHEN HE WAS LITTLE AND HE WOULD FALL, OR SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN, HE’D BE DISAPPOINTED. BECAUSE I WAS AROUND SO MANY WOMEN, I WOULD BE LIKE YOU’RE OKAY, I WOULD CHEER HIM ON. INSTEAD OF JUST SIT IN THAT SPACE WITH HIM, AND JUST BE THERE, AND SAY ‘HOW YOU FEEL? IT’S OKAY TO FEEL.’”
After doing a lot of self-reflection, the 54-year-old realized she “didn’t care about” her son’s feelings or her own because she wasn’t sure how to. She explained:
“I WAS ALWAYS RUSHING MYSELF. YOU’VE GOTTA BE STOIC, YOU’VE GOTTA BE TOUGH, YOU GOTTA GET THROUGH LIFE, AND THIS WAS HIM SAYING THIS. I DIDN’T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO CARE ABOUT HIS FEELINGS BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO CARE ABOUT MINE. I WAS ON AUTO-PILOT.”
During the episode, Jada Pinkett Smith told Sheree that she “crossed the line” with her husband during the early stages of their relationship. When Sheree and Will Smith called off their three-year marriage, Jada appeared in romance rumors with the actor. The actress recalled:
“I CAN REMEMBER SOME TIMES THAT I REALLY CROSSED THE LINE. THERE WAS ONE TIME TREY HAD A PLAYDATE AND HE MISBEHAVED. I WAS LIKE, ‘UH UH, WE GOTTA SIT DOWN, WE GOTTA TALK ABOUT THIS, TREY CAN’T BE BEHAVING THIS WAY.’”
Sheree replied:
“LET ME GIVE YOU MY VERSION. I LITERALLY WALKED IN THE HOUSE JUST TO DROP HIM OFF AND AS SOON AS I WALKED IN, JADA WAS LIKE, ‘WE GOTTA TALK ABOUT HIS BEHAVIOR!’ AND I WAS LIKE ‘GO GET HIS DADDY PLEASE. WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AT MY HOUSE, OVER HERE? ’HIS BEHAVIOR WAS AT MY HOUSE.’”
Jada said:
“IT WAS A LOT OF INTERTWINING AND IT GOT REALLY KIND OF MESSY.”
Sheree made it clear that Jada “didn’t mean any harm” with her comment. She added:
“MY ONLY REQUIREMENT WAS THAT YOU TREATED MY SON WELL. YOU DID THAT AND YOUR HEART WAS ALWAYS RIGHT TOWARD HIM, WANTING THE BEST FOR HIM.”
Sheree then shared that her behavior became “shameful” at times, detailing how she went uninvited into Jada and Will’s bedroom to look at their decor. Jada said:
“YOU LOOKED AROUND… YOU WANTED TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON, HOW IT WAS DECORATED AND ALL THA. IT WAS EARLY ON AND I THINK YOU WERE LIKE, ‘I JUST NEED YOU TO KNOW, QUEEN BEE IS AROUND HERE.’”’
Jada added:
“I WAS LIKE, WELL, D*MN, SHE DONE PICKED THE HOUSE OUT, I CAN’T SAY NOTHING. WE WERE VERY FIERY.”
Before finally accepting that Sheree would always be a part of their family, Jada revealed that she always thought Sheree would be out of the picture once her divorce from the “King Richard” actor was finalized. Sheree said:
“BUT 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.’ BASICALLY, WHAT YOU WERE SAYING WAS ‘I WAS IN THE PICTURE TOO SOON.’ AND YOU APOLOGIZED FOR THAT.”
Jada responded:
“MY PHILOSOPHY ALWAYS WAS, HOW CAN I LOVE TREY AND NOT LOVE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN HIS LIFE, WHICH IS HIS MOTHER? YOU CAN’T. … IT WAS DEFINITELY QUITE A PARTNERSHIP.”
Will married the “Scream 2” actress in 1997. The two share two children together: Jaden, 24, and daughter Willow, 21.
On the show, Sheree was asked how she felt about Jada getting “the better version” of Will. Sheree said:
“WHAT I THINK IS, WHEN OUR UNION ENDS, HE SHOULD BE BETTER BECAUSE OF ME. HE SHOULD BE BETTER. SO IT MIGHT HURT TO SEE YOU WITH THE BETTER VERSION, BUT HE SHOULDN’T BE WORSE BECAUSE HE’S BEEN WITH ME. IN THIS STAGE OF LIFE, I THINK I LEFT TOO SOON. THAT WAS A PART OF ME TRYING TO PROTECT MYSELF. IF I WAS IN A DIFFERENT TIME, I WOULD NEVER LEAVE THAT SOON, I’D WORK AT IT.”
Sheree said that she has a better co-parenting relationship with Will as opposed to them being in a relationship. Jokingly, Jada said the trio isn’t a “throuple” after sharing that Sheree and Will go on vacation together with his family and she’s never invited.
