When Jada Pinkett-Smith, 46, sat across a table from Sheree Fletcher, 50, she had a conversation two women are never ‘meant’ to have.
Fletcher was married to Will Smith between 1992 and 1995, and they share a son, Trey Fletcher.
In 1995, Smith met Jada Pinkett when she auditioned for the role of his girlfriend on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Although she did not win the part, a romance between the two actors began.
They married two years later, when his divorce was still raw.
In a 20-minute episode of web series Red Table Talk, Pinkett-Smith speaks openly with her husband’s first wife about the difficulties they had when they first tried to blend families.
“I did not understand marriage,” Pinkett-Smith reflects. “I did not understand divorce. I probably should have fell back.”
Fletcher replies jokingly with, “You think?”
As their conversation evolves, Pinkett-Smith explains how neatly she thought everything had ended, and Fletcher laughs, “Oh, you thought it was done?”
Pinkett-Smith acknowledges she did not understand the process of “unravelling a marriage,” and in retrospect sees much of her behaviour as insensitive and inconsiderate.
They recall one incident where Fletcher called the home phone hoping to speak to her son. When Pinkett-Smith did not appreciate her tone, she promptly hung up on her.