Jada Pinkett Smith finds herself embroiled in a legal battle of epic proportions. The 54-year-old actress is the subject of a $3 million lawsuit filed by her husband Will Smith's former associate Bilaal Salaam, who alleges that she orchestrated a smear campaign against him following an altercation at Will's birthday party in September 2021.
According to the November 7 lawsuit, obtained by E! News, "Defendant Jada Pinkett Smith approached Plaintiff with approximately seven members of her entourage, became verbally aggressive, and threatened Plaintiff by stating that if he continued 'telling her personal business,' he would 'end up missing or catch a bullet,' and demanded he sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) 'or else.'"
The suit further states that an associate of Jada then followed Bilaal to his vehicle "while continuing to issue verbal threats." Less than a year later, Bilaal alleges he was contacted following the 2022 Academy Awards, during which Will famously slapped Chris Rock onstage, and was asked to "help with crisis management for the incident." However, Bilaal declined, noting in his filing that "his conscience would not allow him to be involved in any cover-up or deceptive PR campaign."
After his refusal, Bilaal alleges that "a retaliatory campaign was launched against him, including threats from individuals closely associated with Will and Jada," which escalated after the Smiths learned he was writing a "whistleblower memoir" about his time working with the family. Bilaal says in the filing that he then began giving public interviews in an "effort to protect himself and document the events," at which point he alleges Jada "intentionally and maliciously engaged in a smear campaign through nationally broadcast interviews."
In his suit, Bilaal is accusing Jada of intentional infliction of emotional distress in three separate instances, in addition to allegations of "extreme and outrageous conduct," among which he cites actions taken to "intimidate, bribe, and suppress" him. Bilaal is seeking $3 million in special damages, in addition to other general and punitive and exemplary damages, and asks that Jada "issue a public retraction of the false and defamatory statements made about Plaintiff, including the false accusations of a money shakedown and extortion."
