Jada Pinkett Smith wants Will Smith’s ex-friend Bilaal Salaam to cover her legal fees in the $3 million emotional distress lawsuit brought against her last year.
Following an April 13 ruling from the judge, which largely tossed out Salaam’s claims against “The Matrix” actress, Jada is seeking just over $49,000 in attorneys’ fees from Will’s former friend, according to court documents obtained by Page Six.
Jada’s lawyers claimed she is entitled to recover her attorneys’ fees, that those legal fees are reasonable and that they should be awarded in full.
In a separate document, Jada’s team is asking the court to fully rule in her favor and to award Salaam nothing, for her to be awarded the cost of suit incurred and “any other and further relief the Court considers just and proper.”
Salaam filed his $3 million lawsuit against Jada in November 2025.
Salaam referred to himself as Will’s “best friend for nearly 40 years” in the complaint and alleged that Jada confronted him at a 2021 party, where she told him he’d “end up missing or catch a bullet” if he continued “telling her personal business.”
The lawsuit also claimed Jada orchestrated a “retaliatory campaign” against Salaam after he refused to help with crisis management in the wake of Will slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Salaam alleged that Jada and her associates threatened him over a memoir he planned to release, urging him to “work something out” and to “end this feud before you get physically hurt.”
Salaam, as a result, claimed his reputation was destroyed, his health deteriorated and he suffered financial loss and emotional trauma over what he called Jada’s “malicious, intentional, and reckless conduct.”
In response, Jada called Salaam’s claims “nonsense” and argued that his allegations were “false, uncorroborated, and made to generate attention as part of an ongoing public campaign of harassment directed at” her and her family.
Jada accused Salaam of being “fixated” on her family and that she was being punished for her “constitutionally protected speech on a matter of public interest about her family” by his lawsuit.
Jada and Salaam are due back in court on May 13 for a case management conference and on May 18 for a hearing on motion for attorney fees, per the docket.
TMZ was the first to report on the filing.
Jada revealed she and Will had been separated for seven years in a 2023 interview with People, telling the outlet they are “still figuring” out their relationship.
“We’ve been doing some really heavy-duty work together,” she said. “We just got deep love for each other, and we are going to figure out what that looks like for us.”
They stepped out together in January for Paris Fashion Week.
