Jada Pinkett Smith is pushing back hard against a $3 million lawsuit filed by Will Smith’s alleged ex-friend Bilaal Salaam, telling a court the claims against her are unsupported and built to stir attention.
In new court documents, Pinkett Smith questioned whether Salaam has any real evidence that he suffered emotional distress, saying he should produce medical records or testimony from third-party health professionals if he wants to tie his alleged weight gain, lost relationship and departure from the country to anything her family did.
The filing is the latest turn in a dispute that has followed the Smith family for months. In December last year, sources said Will Smith and Pinkett Smith were furious about the lawsuit and viewed it as both baseless and financially motivated. One insider described Salaam as “an opportunistic person out to exploit” the couple, and the pair reportedly believed the case was “a money ploy.”
The lawsuit itself centers on Salaam’s claim that Pinkett Smith and other members of her family criticized and threatened him publicly after he said he was working on a memoir containing previously undisclosed information about Will Smith. Salaam alleged those threats led to weight gain, the loss of a romantic relationship and his decision to flee the country. Pinkett Smith now says she never made public comments about him at all, and she called the claims “false, uncorroborated and made to generate attention as part of an ongoing public campaign of harassment.”
That denial leaves the case where the sharpest legal fights often end up: over evidence. Salaam says the Smith family caused his harm. Pinkett Smith says he has not shown proof, and her request for medical documentation suggests she intends to test whether the lawsuit can survive beyond allegation and outrage.