Rebel Wilson, the host of the recent BAFTA awards night, cracked a few jokes that raised a few eyebrows. But it was when she delivered a joke on Hollywood celebrity Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s marriage that the hall became silent before they let out an audible gasp.

Wilson walked to the stage after Will Smith won the BAFTA for Best Film Actor in a Leading Role for his depiction of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, in King Richard, and said:

“Personally I thought his best performance in the past year has been being ok with all of his wife’s boyfriends”.

“What?” she said, as the crowd gasped in surprise at her statement, which was greeted with anxious laughter. “Come on, he didn’t show up”.

Smith was unable to attend the BAFTAs since he was attending the Critics’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles on the same day. Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film’s director, accepted the BAFTA on his behalf.

According to The Sun, Smith responded to Wilson’s remark by defending his wife Jada, claiming she has never cheated on him. “There’s never been infidelity in our marriage. Jada and I talk about everything, and we have never surprised one another with anything, ever,” the actor has reportedly said.

Smith said last year that during their marriage, he and his wife had sexual interactions with other individuals.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smit.
Shutterstock.

“Jada never believed in conventional marriage… Jada had family members that had an unconventional relationship. So she grew up in a way that was very different than how I grew up,” Smith remarked in a previous interview with GQ about his personal life.

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been married for 24 years, but their relationship has gotten a lot of attention in the last two years because of some unusual decisions. Pinkett Smith opened up about dating musician August Alsina when she and her husband were temporarily divorced on her Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk in 2020.

“We were over. From there, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August” she said. Will pressed her on the air to clarify that the word ‘entanglement’ truly meant ‘relationship.’

“It was a relationship, absolutely,” Jada remarked, with Will adding,

“We decided we were going to separate for a period of time, and you go figure out how to make yourself happy, and I’ll figure out how to make myself happy”.

“One of the things I want to clear up that was kind of swirling in the press was you giving permission, which the only person who can give permission in that particular circumstance is myself” Jada said.

“But what August was trying to communicate – because I could actually see how he would perceive it as permission because we were separated amicably – I think he also wanted to make it clear that he’s not a homewrecker, which he’s not”.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune led the field with 11 nominations at this year’s Baftas, which were held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Jane Campion’s western The Power of the Dog had eight nods.