Portrait of Chris Rock & Will Smith

Ex Sheree Zampino Says It Will Be 'Powerful' If Will Smith & Chris Rock Reconcile

Home / Stars / Ex Sheree Zampino Says It Will Be 'Powerful' If Will Smith & Chris Rock Reconcile

By Kristin Myers on August 9, 2022 at 3:15 PM EDT
Updated on August 9, 2022 at 3:18 PM EDT

Back in March, Will Smith shocked the world when he slapped Chris Rock at the 94th annual Academy Awards.

After Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her hair loss condition, known as alopecia, the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" stormed the stage and slapped Rock. To make matters worse, the "King Richard" actor took to the stage again later that night to accept the Best Actor Oscar where he apologized to his fellow nominees, but not to Rock himself.

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It wasn't until a few weeks ago that the "Independence Day" actor actually apologized to the stand-up comedian in a six-minute video, where he revealed that Rock was not ready to talk about the incident yet. It seems that Rock may still be trying to make sense of the incident, and he's not alone. Smith's ex Sheree Zampino is also still thinking about the Oscars slap months after it occurred.

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Will Smith's Ex Sheree Zampino Says It Will Be 'Powerful' If Chris Rock Can Forgive Him

Sheree Zampino smiling
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On Monday, the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star sat down with Us Weekly to talk about the viral Oscars slap.

“It was one of those moments where I froze,” she recalled. “The first thing you do is you try to make sense of it in the [moment]. And when it doesn’t make sense in the moment … we didn’t even really have time. I didn’t even deal with it.”

Although she's still trying to "make sense of it," she said that it would be a "powerful" moment if Smith and Rock were able to come together and make amends. “When Chris and Will can come together and heal in a public way and extend forgiveness to one another, do you know how many people that’s gonna help and set free?" she asked. "So, I see the opportunity in it."

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Chris Rock shut down a Will Smith heckler
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Considering the "Men in Black" actor said that Rock isn't ready to talk yet, it may be a while before that apology actually ends up happening. Other than that, though, Zampino said that her ex-husband is doing "amazing."

“I think the reason why he’s so successful is because he’s done it with a lot of dignity, he’s done it with a lot of grace,” she said. “Will is always gonna be OK.”

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Sheree & Jada Once Butt Heads Over Co-Parenting

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As Page Six reported, Will Smith and Sheree Zampino were married from 1992 to 1995. They share one 29-year-old son named Trey. After they divorced, Smith married Jada Pinkett Smith two years later, in 1997. The couple, which is still together, have two children together: Jaden, 24, and Willow, 21.

On David Yontef's "Behind the Velvet Rope" podcast, Zampino revealed that she had butted heads with both her ex-husband and his new wife over co-parenting Trey and adjusting to the issues of having a blended family.

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She said that “three different dynamics, three different personalities and [three] different belief systems” did not make it easy for them to navigate co-parenting their then-five-year-old son, Trey. Although they had their differences when it came to raising the child, Zampino did admit that Jada always treated him well.

“I’m grateful that we were kind of all on the same frequency and the same page to really want to do that, which is probably why we are called to one another in this space,” she said.

Willow Smith Says That She Loves Dad Will Smith For His 'Humanness'

Willow Smith Recalls ‘Crazy’ Experience With Cyberstalker Who Broke Into Her Home
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In a new interview with Billboard published last Friday, Will Smith's daughter, Willow Smith, addressed the Oscars slap and her relationship with her father. “I see my whole family as being human, and I love and accept them for all their humanness,” she said.

“Because of the position that we’re in, our humanness sometimes isn’t accepted, and we’re expected to act in a way that isn’t conducive to a healthy human life and isn’t conducive to being honest,” she continued.

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Willow Smith attends iHeartRadio ALTer EGO presented by Capital One.
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She added that the constant media coverage surrounding the incident didn’t “rock me as much as my own internal demons.”

Meanwhile, Chris Rock hasn't been holding back from cracking jokes about the incident while insisting that he is not a victim. Those interested can read more about that here.

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