Will Smith divides fans after 'threatening' to sue coffee company using his name

Since joining Instagram in December during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Will Smith has been keeping fans thoroughly entertained with his hilarious selfies, motivational speeches and, of course, the obligatory star-studded throwbacks.

However, the Hollywood actor has now been introduced to the dark side of Instagram after coming under fire for joking about suing a coffee company.

The drama kicked off after the 49-year-old actor, who is in Sydney on a promotional visit, shared a snap of himself enjoying a hot beverage at Will and Co. He captioned the image, which showed him pointing at the disposable blue cup: "I found this coffee company in Australia. Two words: I'm suing."

Not everybody saw the funny side with some going on the comments section to accuse the father of three, who is worth $250m, of taking advantage of poor people.

"Well, that escalated quickly," one person said, while another wrote: "Well at least we know you're a full blooded American #justsue."

"@willsmith don't u make enough money... what u gonna do trying to sue poor people trying to make an honest living. And you are supposed to be one of the "good" actors of Hollywood. Find something better to do with your time @willsmith, like trying to make the world a better place. Peace out."

However, many of his five million followers rushed to his defence arguing that if anything he had given the coffee shop great promotion.

"OMG We need an eye roll emoji on the 'like' button for all the people that think he's serious. It constantly amazes me how many people are incapable of recognizing sarcasm or a joke when they see it," one person said.

A second supporter added: "What a sad sad world we live in. People are so wrapped up in themselves they cant see the bloke is having a joke. Great promotion for the business too. Good stuff Will."

The Oscar-nominated actor is Down Under promoting his Netflix movie Bright, which was recently greenlighted for a sequel.