Will Smith could soon find himself pulled into a legal showdown involving his wife Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and his former friend Bilaal Salaam. According to court documents obtained by BlkCosmo, Salaam is attempting to depose the actor as part of his ongoing lawsuit against Jada.
The move signals an escalation in what’s become a messy legal dispute. On July 7, Salaam’s legal team submitted a deposition request to Jada’s lawyers, but they shut it down immediately. “As for your proposed deposition of Will Smith, there is nothing to meet and confer about,” the response read.
Jada’s legal team was emphatic about the rejection. They contended that Will isn’t a party to the litigation and hasn’t been formally subpoenaed for testimony. In other words: no deposition, period.
The deposition request surfaced within a broader motion filed by Jada seeking to compel Salaam to produce additional evidence. She’s pushing for medical records to support his claims of emotional distress, particularly given his $3 million lawsuit against her.
The lawsuit itself stems from events following Will’s infamous Oscar stage slap in 2022. Salaam claims Jada orchestrated threats against him after he declined to help manage the PR fallout from the incident. The situation intensified when Salaam announced he was writing a memoir that would include details about the Smith family.
Jada has denied all allegations, dismissing claims that she threatened him. A judge already ruled in her favor on some of Salaam’s claims and awarded her over $30,000 in legal fees. But the case isn’t over yet. The remainder continues to move through the courts, with both sides taking increasingly hardline positions about what evidence matters and who needs to testify.
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