Are Will Smith & Jada Pinkett-Smith Heading Towards Divorce?

Actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, may be headed for divorce.

On March 27, at the 94th annual Academy Awards, presenter Chris Rock insulted Jada’s hair loss condition, known as alopecia, by referring to her as “G.I. Jane.” As a result, Smith went up on stage, slapped Rock, and yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f---ing mouth” after he had resumed his seat.

Although Smith retook the stage shortly after to claim his first-ever Best Actor Oscar, he resigned from the Academy at the beginning of April. The Academy’s Board of Governors then issued Smith with a 10-year ban from all Academy events, in-person and virtual.

Following the incident, many tumultuous clips have emerged of their marriage, along with rumors of divorce.

A source close to the family told Heat Magazine UK that “There have been problems for years, but they’re barely speaking right now.” They added that “ever since the Oscars scandal, the tension between them has been palpable.”

However, the source warned that the divorce could quickly turn ugly.

“If they were to split, Will has a fortune of $350 million that Jada would be entitled to under California law,” they explained. “It could be one of the ugliest divorces in showbiz history and drag on longer than Angelina [Jolie] and Brad [Pitt] did.”

They added, “Will obviously doesn’t want that but there is only so much he can take. Will has made no secret of how uncomfortable he feels about Jada sharing every personal detail of their marriage. He had so much pressure on him from big studios to sell their movies, and you have to be squeaky clean. This is the last straw and could force him to finally end things.”

Many have called their marriage into question, especially considering Jada has made it clear that she did not want to marry the “Independence Day” actor in the first place.

In a 2018 video for their Facebook “Red Table Talk” series, Jada admitted that “I never wanted to be married” and said that she was “crying down the freaking aisle” when she tied the knot with Will Smith on New Year’s Eve in 1997.

“I was under so much pressure, you know, being a young actress, being young, and I was just, like, pregnant and I just didn’t know what to do,” Jada recalled as she described how her mother – Adrienne Banfield-Norris, convinced her to marry Smith when she was pregnant with their first son, Jaden.

“I really didn’t wanna get married,” Jada said while sitting around the table with her mom, known as “Gammy,” Smith, and their daughter, Willow.

“We only got married because Gammy was crying,” Smith told Willow.

Jada added, “It was almost as if Gammy was like, ‘You have to get married, so let’s talk about the wedding.’”

“I remember feeling very strongly and wanting you guys to be married,” Adrienne said. “I do remember [wanting you and Will to get married] but I don’t remember your rejection of the idea of marriage. I remember the rejection of the idea of a wedding but not of a marriage.”

“And I was so upset that I had to have a wedding,” Jada insisted. “I was so pissed I went crying down the freaking aisle. I cried the whole way down the aisle.”

In the 2019 clip, Jada mentions that therapist Esther Perel will be coming to their Facebook “Red Table Talk.” She then asks the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” actor, “Would you say she has been instrumental in you and I redefining our relationship?”

“I would say, don’t just start filming me without asking me,” an uncomfortable Will replies.

“Esther, come help us, please, I’m still dealing with foolishness,” Jada says as she turns the camera back to herself.

“Don’t. Don’t just…” Will responds. “My social media presence is my bread and butter. So you can’t just use me for social media. Don’t just start rolling… I’m standing in my house. Don’t start rolling.”

Jada ends the video by saying, “Please watch Esther at the Red Table because she’s helped us a lot. Can’t you tell?”

Many users were disturbed by the video. “I cannot imagine the unrelenting, never ending torture of having to live with that woman…day and night, always on edge, never knowing when she’s going to do/say something else to hurt you,” one user wrote. “He looks so sad and empty. This video reeks of abuse.”

“So this third party she's referring to has ‘helped them redefine their relationship’ and yet when Will asks for consent/makes a boundary Jada tramples it and says this third party needs to come back and help her deal with Will's ‘foolishness,” another noted. “This is called Triangulation and is a tactic of abuse.”

“Literally gaslighting him too,” another user pointed out. “He politely requests not to be filmed - calls him foolish for it. Demands answers and forces her views and questions on him when he's made the boundary clear. Then undermines him and the relationship because of it.”