In a twinkling Hollywood night filled with laughter and cheers, an unexpected thunderstorm rolled in, its lightning crackling between Will Smith and Chris Rock. At the heart of this storm was a seemingly ordinary gesture from Jada Pinkett Smith, a slight rolling of the eyes, which many believe nudged Will Smith into taking a stand for his beloved wife against a joke made by Chris Rock.

As Chris Rock aimed a joke at Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, a ripple of laughter spread across the crowd, but not everyone found it amusing. Jada’s rolling eyes mirrored the clouds gathering in the starry sky, and before anyone knew it, Will Smith’s hand had met Chris Rock’s face in a clap louder than the applause.

The scene quickly painted the picture of a tale as old as time, where a woman is blamed for the actions of a man. The headlines the next morning were filled with stories portraying Jada as the puppeteer, and Will as the puppet, reacting to her silent, eye-rolling command.

Some narratives began to spin the tale of a flawless superstar, Will Smith, who was driven to the edge by one simple gesture from his wife, whom some labeled as flawed.

The idea that a husband stood up for his wife isn’t new, but the way the story unfolded led to a wildfire of discussions around the world. Jada found herself amidst a swirl of judgments, some viewing her as an adulterous wife who had now, with a mere roll of her eyes, driven her husband to act out in public.

Is Will Smith gay? The rumors, explained

With the recent relationship bombshell dropped by Jada Pinkett Smith, many are wondering if the old accusations and rumors are true.

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s relationship is unconventional, to say the least. And after Jada dropped the bombshell she and Will haven’t even actually been together since 2016 in an interview with Today, questions and rumors surrounding Will’s sexuality have begun to recirculate.

Will Smith’s rumored open relationship started the speculation

In 2008, tabloids and major outlets alike began speculating that Will and Jada were in an open relationship. The tabloids tried to claim that Will suggested Jada could be with another man if she really felt she needed to. Then in an interview with HuffPost, Jada Pinkett Smith dropped this now-infamous quote:

“I’ve always told Will, ‘You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay.’ Because at the end of the day, Will is his own man. I’m here as his partner, but he is his own man. He has to decide who he wants to be and that’s not for me to do for him. Or vice versa.”

Her not outright denying the open relationship was one thing, but many started to interpret her words to mean that Will himself might be gay as he needed to decide “who he wants to be.”

This combined with Will potentially letting her be with another man made some also wonder if that might be because he would prefer the company of other men himself but still wanted to make sure his wife could feel satisfied.

Alexis Arquette accused Will and Jada Pinkett Smith of being gay

Image via Rolling Stone

In 2016, actress Alexis Arquette accused Will Smith of paying off her first wife to not reveal he was having gay sex in a now-deleted Facebook post. Arquette said, “When Jada comes out as gay and her beard husband admits his first marriage ended when she walked in on him … servicing his Sugar Daddy Benny Medina … then I will listen to them.”

She went on further, discussing an alleged moment that occurred on the set of Six Degrees of Separation:

“Will threw a fit on the set of [‘Six Degrees of Separation’] when he was required by the scene to kiss Anthony Rapp,” Arquette continued. “He persuaded the director to shoot the back of his head in frame. Blocking the non existent lip lock entirely. …him. Gays have enemies. They lurk in gilded closets. Outing is healthy. You are either with or against us. You decide. Today.”

Will Smith’s first wife denies he is gay

Responding directly to Alexis Arquette’s accusations, Will’s first wife Sheree Fletcher posted a video to Facebook titled “Just setting the record STRAIGHT” to directly confront Alexis Arquette after her accusations.

“Alexis Arquette, let’s just be clear: I don’t know you and you don’t know me,” she said in the video. “So for you to claim you have firsthand knowledge information as to why my marriage didn’t work out is completely out of line. Not only is it out of line, it’s absolutely not true.”

She made it clear that Will never cheated on her and she firmly believed he was straight. “My marriage ended not over any infidelity — I didn’t find Will in bed with a man, I didn’t find him in bed with a woman — it just didn’t happen. Will was straight in 1992 and he’s straight in 2016.”

She claimed the relationship ended simply because she was unhappy and that there was no way she could be paid off enough to say otherwise. “I know Will has a lot of money, but Will does not have enough money to take my voice away from me — to deprive me of my story. That wouldn’t happen.”

Trisha Paytas alleged Will Smith sexually assaulted male dancers

In 2020, a clip resurfaced of YouTuber Shane Dawson pretending to masturbate to a then 11-year-old Willow Smith. After both Jaden and Jada Pinkett Smith condemned Dawson over the video, fellow YouTuber Trisha Paytas made a video to defend Dawson while dropping a bombshell of an accusation.

“How about worry about your daughter being in bed at 13 with her 20-year-old boyfriend … How about worry about your f–king cheating husband f–king one of my male dancers when they didn’t want to,” she said in the video.

While it was later clarified in a video by Drama Alert that she, “[W]asn’t there, like I wasn’t in the room or anything. But it’s happened to multiple dancers allegedly,” it still renewed speculation on Will Smith’s sexuality.

Jada Pinkett Smith has also responded

Since Jada Pinkett’s comments have once more sparked speculation about Will’s sexuality, it makes sense to look back at exactly what she has said on the subject. She made her thoughts clear in a radio interview on the Bert Show on Atlanta’s Q100:

“I’ve heard all the things – their marriage is not real, he’s gay, she’s gay, they swing. But at the end of the day, people have to believe what they have to believe. One thing Will and I are not here to do, is like, what’s real for us is what’s real for us, so you can either get on that bandwagon or not.”

So, is Will Smith gay or not?

Speculate all you want, but unless Will himself comes out and says something, there’s no way to truly know. Plenty of people don’t come out for a variety of reasons and outing others can be incredibly dangerous. But according to Occam’s Razor, the simplest solution is almost always the best. So it’s likely best to assume he’s simply not gay as he has literally never said he is. It’s just that simple.