Will Smith Calls First Marriage To Sheree Zampino ‘Chinese Water Torture’ In Resurfaced Comments: It Was A Passive, Drippy Faucet

November 18, 2021 by Nick Fenley in TV with 0 Comments

Will Smith Calls First Marriage To Sheree Zampino ‘Chinese Water Torture’ In Resurfaced Comments: It Was A Passive, Drippy Faucet

Did Will Smith really compare his first marriage to a slow punishment?

As you may recall, Will Smith was married to Sheree Zampino before he entered his highly-discussed relationship with Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith and Sheree Zampino were married from 1992 to 1995 and welcomed a son together, Willard “Trey” Smith III. Will went on to marry Jada Pinkett Smith in 1997.

Will Smith, Sheree Zampino, Jada Pinkett Smith

While Will Smith‘s relationship with Jada Pinkett Smith continues to make headlines, some past comments he made about his first marriage have recently resurfaced! Back in a 1998 interview, Will Smith dished on his union with Sheree Zampino, saying:

“It was passive, sort of a drippy faucet. It wasn’t fighting, arguing. We never raised our voices. It was… Chinese water torture.”

For context, Chinese water torture is the process of having cold water slowly drip onto someone’s forehead over a long period of time–causing mental anguish without overt violence.

Sheree Zampino

This resurfaced comment comes shortly after Will Smith initially revealed he “fell in love” with Grease actress Stockard Channing on the set of Six Degrees of Separation. Will–who was still married to Sheree at the time–divulged:

“Sheree and I were in the first few months of our marriage with a brand-new baby and for Sheree, I can imagine that this experience was unsettling to say the least. She’d married a guy named Will Smith and now she was living with a guy named Paul Poitier [from ‘Six Degrees of Separation’]. And to make matters worse, during shooting I fell in love with Stockard Channing.”

He continued:

“After the film wrapped, Sheree and Trey and I moved back to L.A. Our marriage was off to a rocky start. I found myself desperately yearning to see and speak to Stockard.”