Jada Pinkett Smith has gone on the offensive. After convincing a judge to dismiss significant portions of a $3 million emotional distress lawsuit filed against her by Bilaal Salaam, described as a longtime friend of her husband, Will Smith, she now wants the court to order Salaam to pay the roughly $49,000 in legal fees she incurred defending herself.
According to court documents reviewed by TMZ, Pinkett Smith is reportedly seeking about $49,000 from Bilaal Salaam.
The exact figure in the motion is $48,975. The judge has not yet ruled on the fee request, but a decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Here is the full story of how this lawsuit started, what it alleged, and where it stands now.
Who Is Bilaal Salaam?
Bilaal Salaam is described in court filings as a longtime friend and associate of Will Smith.
Salaam claimed he suffered emotional distress after alleging he was brought in to help Will Smith with damage control following the 2022 Oscars slap incident involving Chris Rock.
The 2022 incident needs no extended introduction. On March 27, 2022, Will Smith walked onstage at the Academy Awards and slapped comedian Chris Rock on live television after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head.
Pinkett Smith has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. The moment was broadcast to millions of viewers worldwide, generated an extraordinary volume of media coverage, and led to Smith being banned from attending the Oscars or other Academy events for ten years.
He won Best Actor that same night for King Richard and gave a tearful acceptance speech.
The fallout from that moment is where Salaam enters the story. According to his lawsuit, he was recruited specifically to help manage the narrative and the damage in the weeks and months that followed.
That relationship, he claims, eventually turned threatening.
Salaam alleged that Pinkett Smith and members of her entourage threatened him after learning he was working on a memoir.
Allegedly, he was even warned that he could “end up missing” or “catch a bullet” if he continued “telling her personal business.”
The lawsuit further alleged that Pinkett Smith pressured Salaam to sign a nondisclosure agreement and made the demand with an implied threat.
He further alleged that the distress caused by these events was severe and measurable, that he lost a girlfriend as a result, left the country, lost weight, and experienced significant health deterioration.
The total damages sought amounted to $3 million.
What Has Jada Pinkett Smith Said About The Allegations?
Pinkett Smith categorically refuted all such claims, calling them “false, uncorroborated and made to generate attention as part of an ongoing public campaign of harassment.”
Her legal team went further in their filings, arguing that Salaam failed to provide evidence for claims that he lost a girlfriend, left the country, or suffered health issues due to distress.
Sources close to the couple previously told People magazine the case is “a money ploy.”
That framing, that Salaam is attempting to extract money by leveraging proximity to one of the most famous couples in the world, is the core of Pinkett Smith’s defense posture, and it is the argument that appears to have resonated with the court in the early stages.
What Did The California Judge Order?
A California judge dismissed significant portions of Salaam’s lawsuit, specifically the emotional distress claims that formed the core of his case.
The court found those claims lacked sufficient documentation and evidence to survive.
A judge has already dismissed significant portions of Salaam’s lawsuit, including key emotional distress claims. Salaam’s separate request for a restraining order against Pinkett Smith was also denied in February 2026, with the judge finding insufficient evidence to support it.
The broader case is not over. Other claims from Salaam’s original filing remain before the court, and the litigation is continuing.
The dismissal of the emotional distress claims, which represented the most dramatic and personally damaging portion of his allegations, was a meaningful win for Pinkett Smith.
Why She Is Now Going After $49,000
The fee motion is a logical next step in the legal strategy. In civil cases, it is not unusual for someone who successfully challenges parts of a lawsuit to ask the court to shift legal costs to the other party.
Under California law, when portions of a lawsuit are found to lack merit and are struck, the prevailing party can seek to recover the legal costs they incurred while defending against those specific claims.
Her position: because she got parts of his case thrown out, he should bear the cost of the legal work that made it happen.
The $48,975 figure represents the attorney fees Pinkett Smith’s team racked up specifically in litigating the now-dismissed emotional distress claims.
It is not a damages award, it is a cost-shifting motion, and the judge will decide whether to grant it in the coming weeks.
This fee award creates serious credibility damage for Bilaal moving forward as settlement pressures likely intensify significantly.
Even if $49,000 is a relatively modest sum in the context of celebrity litigation, the symbolic weight of a judge ordering the plaintiff to pay the defendant’s legal costs sends a clear message about how the court views the merit of those dismissed claims.
Where Do Will And Jada Currently Stand?
The lawsuit is one of several threads of public and legal attention the Smiths have navigated in the years since the Oscars incident.
In 2023, Jada confirmed publicly that she and Will have been living separately since 2016, describing their relationship as a “life partnership” rather than a conventional marriage.
She published a memoir, Worthy, in October 2023, in which she discussed the state of the marriage and her own personal journey.
Will has been working on new creative projects and has maintained a significantly lower public profile than before the slap.
Neither Will nor Jada has issued a public statement in response to the latest court filings regarding the fee motion.
The case is a reminder that the 2022 Oscars moment, now more than four years ago, continues to generate legal and reputational consequences that neither Smith anticipated when the evening began.
Salaam’s lawsuit, whatever its ultimate outcome, is a direct product of the relationships and damage-control arrangements that followed one of the most watched moments in recent television history.
The judge will rule on whether Salaam pays Jada’s legal bills. The broader case remains open; other unresolved claims from Salaam’s original suit are still before the court.
