The 52-year-old actress shocked the world this week when she revealed that she and her spouse, Will, 55 – who have been married since 1997 – secretly separated in 2016. Jada has now claimed that Will chatted her up when he was still married to Sheree Zampino in 1994.
During an interview with Hoda Kotb for NBC, she said, “He called me when I was in Baltimore with my mom. She was like, ‘Listen, tell him – y’all hang up that phone. You don’t need to be talking to no married man.’ And I was like, ‘She’s right.’ So I was like, ‘Will, I’m so sorry, but my mom says please don’t call me anymore.’ And so we didn’t talk again for a whole other year.”
Will later got back in touch when he and Sheree – with whom he shares a son, Trey – split up. She said, “He called me and asked, ‘Where are you?’ And I replied, ‘I’m in Baltimore.’
“He asked, ‘Are you coming back to LA?’ And I replied, ‘Yeah.’ He asked, ‘Are you seeing anybody?’ And I replied, ‘No.’ And he said, ‘Good, because you’re seeing me now.’ And I was like, ‘What?!’
“Just straight up, you know. I kind of liked that.” Jada also claimed that she and Will might divorce in the future. When asked by Hoda, “Why not just amicably divorce? Why not just do that?”
She replied, “We don’t want to. We love our family, and we love each other. You know, it’s more of a life partnership. Now, 10 years from now, who knows?
“Well, you know, right now what we’re focused on, which has been so beautiful, is deep healing – because of everything that’s transpired. Now, what happens after that, I don’t know yet.” However, she insisted they will always be in each other’s lives.
When Hoda asked, “Is it possible that there would be a full reconciliation?”, Jada replied, “You know, he’s getting old. You know what I’m saying, he’s getting old, who’s going to be there for him, Hoda? It’s going to be me. It’s going to be me. I will be there.”
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