Jada Pinkett Smith just won a major legal victory. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled in her favor and ordered Bilaal Salaam to pay her $32,836 in attorney’s fees. She’d originally requested over $49,000, but the court reduced it, according to reports.
This ruling came as part of her court battle with Salaam, who filed suit claiming she caused him emotional distress through alleged threats. The case grabbed headlines because Salaam claimed he was a longtime friend of Will Smith’s and got pulled into the aftermath of that infamous 2022 Oscars slap with Chris Rock. Now the court has sided with Jada Pinkett Smith on dismissing some of his claims—a solid win for the actress and talk show host.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Salaam claimed he was asked to help the Smith family manage the fallout from the Oscars incident. When he declined and started working on what sounds like a hip hop biography or memoir about his relationship with the family, things took a turn. He alleged that Jada and others connected to her threatened him after learning about the project.
But Jada wasn’t having it. She denied all wrongdoing and challenged Salaam’s claims that he suffered any real damages from her actions. The court agreed with her assessment on several fronts. After she successfully pushed the judge to dismiss certain claims, she went after attorney’s fees—and the judge agreed those were warranted. It’s a reminder that baseless legal threats don’t always hold up in court.
Will Smith’s longtime friend and former assistant, Bilaal Salaam (a.k.a. Brother Bilaal), has filed a $3 million lawsuit against Jada Pinkett Smith. pic.twitter.com/TlWCTSAJb2
— December’s 12/18 Coldest (@SagittariusN2U) January 16, 2026
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