After years of speculation about his marriage, did Will Smith finally snap?

Before his violent outburst and tearful apology on stage at the Oscars, Will Smith had been the butt of jokes for his ‘uncoventional’ marriage to Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Could it be that things finally reached boiling point for Will Smith at the 94th Academy Awards when one throwaway line led to violent outburst by the King Richard actor towards presenter Chris Rock?

After Smith stormed the stage, slapped Rock in the face and later screamed obscenities at him from his chair, viewers worldwide were left wondering what the hell just happened.

Was it a well rehearsed skit between two big-name entertainers — or had some major dirty laundry just been aired on Hollywood’s biggest night?

If it was the former, than no one has fessed up to the joke. In fact, Smith’s tearful acceptance speech, which included a vague apology to the Academy and references to “taking abuse” and “fiercely defending family” later in the evening suggests Rock had touched a raw nerve.

Will Smith slaps US actor Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Ever since news of the 53-year-old actor’s ‘open marriage’ with wife Jada Pinkett Smith emerged late last year, the newly crowned Oscar winner has been dogged by speculation over the his marital arrangement, which has been the butt of Hollywood jokes.

The couple, who have been married for 25 years, have spent a long time shutting down rumours about what really goes on in their relationship.

The Smiths hold hands during the Academy Awards ceremony.

There have been reports the Smiths are swingers, with Will confessing at one point in his marriage to wanting a “harem of girlfriends” led by Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and ballerina Misty Copeland.

“It was okay to think Halle is fine,” Smith told GQ in a shockingly frank interview last year, revealing he consulted a Tantric sex expert to help him sort out his issues. “It doesn’t make me a bad person that I’m married and I think Halle is beautiful. Whereas in my mind, in my Christian upbringing, even my thoughts were sins.”

He also spoke of Jada’s “unconventional” attitude to marriage.

“Jada never believed in conventional marriage … Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship,” Will told the magazine. “So she grew up in a way that was very different than how I grew up.”

The actor has also previously admitted to harbouring raging jealousy over the close bond Jada shared with the late rapper Tupac Shakur before his death in 1996.

“In the beginning of our relationship, my mind was tortured by their connection,” Will wrote in his 2021 memoir. “He was ‘PAC! and I was me … though they were never intimate, their love for each other is legendary.”

Jada Pinkett Smith with Tupac in the ‘90s.

“[Tupac] triggered the perception of myself as a coward. … I hated that I wasn’t what he was in the world, and I suffered a raging jealousy: I wanted Jada to look at me like that.”

Then there’s Jada’s self-confessed “entanglement” with singer August Alsina — a man 20 years her junior — while she was reportedly separated from Will.

The couple sat down to discuss the affair during an episode of Jada’s internet show Red Table Talk, saying it began when she tried to help Alsina with a health problem.

“From there, you know, as time went on I got into a different kind of entanglement with August,” Jada said. Pushed by her husband to spell out what really went on, Jada said: “It was a relationship, absolutely.”

Pinkett-Smitth with August Alsina in 2017.

It doesn’t stop there.

Just a fortnight ago, Australian actress Rebel Willson took aim at the Smiths with a brutal joke that again spotlighted their unconventional marriage.

During the BAFTAs award ceremony, Wilson, who hosted the show, said in response to Will taking out the Leading Actor prize for his role in King Richard that his “best performance in the past year was being OK with all his wife’s boyfriends.”

Afterwards, Smith shot back: “There’s never been infidelity in our marriage. Jada and I talk about everything, and we have never surprised one another with anything, ever.”

Following Wilson’s swipe, an industry source came out in support of the Smiths, telling The Post: “Look at all the A-list couples on the red carpet — who knows what goes on with them. At least with Jada and Will, there is no pretending.”

The couple came clean about Jada’s relationship with Alsina in 2020, who had claimed he had an affair with the actress.

Jaden Smith, Willow Smith, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Trey Smith.

“I totally gave myself to that relationship for years of my life, and I truly and really, really deeply love and have a ton of love for her,” Alsina said of the pair’s relationship.

Will and Jada took to her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk to admit it, in which Will tells Jada: “I was done with your ass.”

The pair share son Jaden, 23, and their daughter, Willow, 21. Will also has son Trey from a previous relationship.