A legal battle involving Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith has taken another turn, with former family associate Bilaal Salaam asking a California judge to compel Jada to sit for a deposition as his lawsuit against her proceeds.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Salaam wants the court to order Pinkett Smith to appear for questioning within 30 days. He claims he previously noticed her deposition for May 20 but says she did not appear. Now, he's asking the court to compel her testimony, arguing that he needs to question her about communications involving him and whether she authorized anyone to threaten him.
The latest filing comes months after much of Salaam's case was significantly narrowed. Earlier this year, a judge granted key portions of Jada's anti-SLAPP motion, striking multiple allegations tied to protected speech and later ordering Salaam to pay her $32,836 in attorney fees.
Despite those setbacks, Salaam is continuing to pursue the remaining claims.
According to the new filing, Salaam believes Jada's testimony is essential to proving his case. He alleges tensions escalated after he declined to help manage the fallout from the 2022 Academy Awards, where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage.
Salaam has previously claimed Jada became upset after he refused to assist with what he characterized as crisis management and that he later received threats after plans for a memoir about his relationship with the Smith family became known.
Jada has consistently denied those allegations. Her attorneys argue she has already been questioned under oath in a separate legal matter involving Salaam and contend that any additional deposition should be narrowly limited.
According to a legal letter included with Salaam's filing, Pinkett Smith's legal team believes any further questioning should be capped at one hour because the lawsuits involve substantially overlapping issues.
The dispute traces back to Salaam's $3 million lawsuit filed in late 2025. In that complaint, he alleged Jada confronted him during Will Smith's birthday celebration in September 2021 and warned that if he continued discussing her private business publicly, he would "end up missing or catch a bullet."
He also alleged she demanded he sign a nondisclosure agreement and later participated in a retaliatory campaign against him.
Pinkett Smith has repeatedly rejected those accusations. In a 2023 appearance on The Breakfast Club, she dismissed similar claims as "nonsense." Since then, her legal team has successfully trimmed significant portions of Salaam's lawsuit, while separate litigation involving Salaam has expanded to include a defamation suit filed by Will Smith's ex-wife, Sheree Zampino.
