A longtime friend of Will Smith has filed a serious lawsuit against the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, claiming she threatened his life. Bilaal Salaam, who also goes by the name Brother Bilaal, is seeking $3 million in damages. He describes himself as Smith’s “best friend for nearly 40 years” and a former personal assistant.
In legal papers filed in November, Salaam states that Pinkett Smith confronted him at a birthday party for Will Smith in 2021. He says she warned him to stop sharing her personal business. This legal filing adds another layer to the public story of the Smith family, who have lived separately since 2016 but remain legally married.
Details of the Alleged Confrontation
The lawsuit describes a tense event at Will Smith’s private 53rd birthday party on September 25, 2021. The celebration was held at the Regency Calabasas Commons.
According to the legal complaint, Jada Pinkett Smith approached Bilaal Salaam in the lobby. She was with about seven other people. Salaam claims that Pinkett Smith became “verbally aggressive” and delivered a serious warning.
The lawsuit claims she told him: “if he continued ‘telling her personal business,’ he would ‘end up missing or catch a bullet.’”
Salaam says Pinkett Smith demanded he sign a non-disclosure agreement “or else”. After the conversation in the lobby, he alleges that members of her group followed him to his car. He says they continued to make verbal threats against him.
The Connection to the Oscars Slap and a Planned Memoir
The relationship between Salaam and the Smiths reportedly worsened after a major public event. In March 2022, Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage at the 94th Academy Awards.
Soon after, Salaam says a mutual friend contacted him. The friend asked for help with “crisis management” following the slap. Salaam claims he refused this request. The lawsuit states he would not do tasks he believed were “illegal, unethical, or morally compromising”. He did not want to be part of a “cover-up or deceptive PR campaign”.
Salaam also says he is planning to write a book about his experiences. He calls it a “whistleblower memoir”. He claims that when the Smiths learned about this book, the threats against him increased. The lawsuit states a manager working for Pinkett Smith told him to “work something out” and to “end this feud before you get physically hurt”.
Past Accusations and Public Denials
This is not the first time Bilaal Salaam has made claims about Will Smith’s private life. In November 2023, he gave an interview on the YouTube channel Unwine With Tasha K. During that interview, Salaam claimed he once saw Will Smith and actor Duane Martin in a compromising situation.
At the time, a representative for Will Smith strongly denied the story. The representative told TMZ, “This story is completely fabricated and the claim is unequivocally false”. Duane Martin has not commented on the claim.
Jada Pinkett Smith also responded to the 2023 allegation. She laughed it off in an interview, calling it “ridiculous” and “nonsense”. She also suggested that Salaam was attempting a “money shakedown” and that she and Will were preparing to take their own legal action.
Salaam’s new lawsuit points out that the Smiths never filed that lawsuit they mentioned. He argues their public statement was “false, reckless, and made with malicious intent” to damage his character.
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Claims of Damage and the Smiths’ Current Relationship
In his lawsuit, Bilaal Salaam lists several ways he says his life has been harmed. He claims to have suffered financial loss and reputational harm. He also says the stress caused serious health issues, including the onset of high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. He is suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeks $3 million.
This legal drama unfolds against the backdrop of Will and Jada’s unique marriage. The couple confirmed in 2023 that they have lived separately since 2016. Despite this, they have not divorced. Jada Pinkett Smith has said, “I made a promise that there will never be a reason for us to get a divorce”.
They still appear together at family events. They were seen with their children at the Bad Boys: Ride or Die premiere in May 2024. More recently, in September 2025, they were photographed having a meal together at Nobu in Malibu. This was their first joint public outing in ten months.
Sources suggest their deep financial ties are a factor in staying legally married. Splitting their “joint empire — from properties to production ventures” would be complex and expensive.
Representatives for Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have not yet commented on the new lawsuit filed by Bilaal Salaam.
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Credits: RealityTea
