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Jada Pinkett Smith is being sued by a man who says he was close friends with her husband Will for over 40 years. Bilaal Salaam, AKA Brother Bilaal, claims the 54-year-old actress turned podcaster threatened to have him killed in 2021 if he didn’t stop “telling her personal business.”
Bilaal, who Will Smith did discuss being friends with in his 2021 autobiography, also claims Jada Pinkett Smith orchestrated a smear campaign against him. He claims she wanted him to assist in a “deceptive PR campaign” after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards in 2022. He refused, and she retaliated against him.
Bilaal Salaam claims Jada Pinkett Smith launched a ‘retaliatory campaign’ against him
According to the lawsuit, in 2021, “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 lawsuit goes on to allege that following that altercation, Pinkett Smith’s team followed Salaam to his car “while continuing to issue verbal threats.”
Salaam also alleges that following the Academy Awards debacle, he was approached and asked to “help with crisis management for the incident.” He says he turned the offer down.
“Plaintiff refused to perform tasks he believed were illegal, unethical, or morally compromising, stating his conscience would not allow him to be involved in any cover-up or deceptive PR campaign,” the lawsuit claims.
After refusing to assist in the PR campaign, Bilaal Salaam alleges “a retaliatory campaign was launched against him, including threats from individuals closely associated with Will and Jada.” The lawsuit claims the retaliation against him was amplified when Jada Pinkett Smith found out Salaam was writing a “whistleblower memoir” about his time working with the Smith family.
The lawsuit claims Jada Pinkett Smith derailed Salaam’s ‘personal life and career’
Salaam claims that in an “effort to protect himself and document the events,” he began giving public interviews, including one in which he said he walked in on Will Smith being physically intimate with actor Duane Martin. Jada Pinkett Smith went on to publicly state that she and Will intended to sue Salaam over his claim. However, according to the lawsuit against Pinkett Smith, “Rather than pursue legal recourse or report actual crimes, Defendant intentionally and maliciously engaged in a smear campaign through nationally broadcast interviews.”
Bilaal Salaam is suing for intentional infliction of emotional distress. He claims this distress was caused by Jada Pinkett Smith and “her emissaries” attempting to “bribe, intimidate and suppress” him. He says he suffered financially, physically and emotionally. Also, his reputation has been harmed, which has led to “the complete derailment of his personal life and career.”
He also wants Jada Pinkett Smith to “issue a public retraction of the false and defamatory statements made about Plaintiff, including the false accusations of a money shakedown and extortion.”
E! News, TMZ, and People all reached out for comment from Jada Pinkett Smith, but did not receive a reply.