CLOSE

2012 BET Awards – After Party

Will Smith’s ex and star of Hollywood ExesSheree Fletcher, gave an interview to the blog Crunk and Disorderly in which she discussed her break up from Will, their son Trey, and people’s attitudes about her new life as a minister’s wife.

     In an VH1 interview, you described divorce being “the death of a dream.” Could you illustrate for our readers that time in your life.

     The time of my life was heartbreaking and lonely one. I was really in a dark place – confused and fearful. And I didn’t have the life skills I knew I needed to make it through. The one thing that I did know was that I loved my son [Trey Smith]!

     The challenge came when he got older. It was hard for me to discipline him and follow through with consequences due to the guilt I had for my son for not having his dad in the home and the “death of the dream” I had for him. I had to forgive myself. And once I did, the guilt dissipated and I was able to effectively raise my son in a well-rounded way.

     Will’s other children – Willow and Jaden – have been public figures over the last few years through acting and music, yet your son Trey has lived a somewhat quiet life finishing high school. Was it a conscience decision by you as a parent to keep him out of the spotlight and grow up without the scrutiny of the media?

     I have always wanted a somewhat normal life for my son. I wanted him to be able to live life under the radar, if you will. Trey was doing some acting, modeling and co-hosting when he was younger because that is what he wanted to do. Then he decided that he was no longer interested in pursuing those activities and just wanted to focus on school and football.

     And if he wanted to enter the entertainment industry, would you encourage that knowing all you do about the business?

     Who better than his dad to help him understand and navigate through the business? And of course I would have been there with him as a “stage mom,” if that’s what he had decided to do. But I’m glad that he chose to postpone the pursuit of a career in the industry. He is such a balanced, compassionate, and genuine young man.

     To go along with that question, do you believe there is a misconception about Christians and/or being a pastor’s wife that you hope to break on the show?

     For sure! When you say you’re a Christian people, including some Christians, immediately want to tell you what you can and can’t do. They have designed a “box” for you and unless you get in it, in their eyes, you aren’t what or who you claim to be. The biggest misconception is that as Christians we have to do certain things and follow a certain set of rules to be right or okay with God.

     This is a huge error! We can never be good enough or do enough “right” to earn what God has given freely. God is into relationship, not rule keeping! Now, you add pastor wife to that and the “box” gets smaller and the list of rules longer. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you are perfect. It just means you are committeed to the process of being perfected by and in Christ. I became a Christian because I knew that I couldn’t live the life I wanted to for my family and myself on my own power.

Read the interview in full at C + D.

— Michael Arceneaux

(The views contained herein are solely the views of their respective authors, and do not express the views of TV One. TV One does not take responsibility for their content.)