Jada Pinkett Smith just won a significant round in court. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge awarded the Red Table Talk host more than $32,000 in attorneys’ fees after she successfully fought off a lawsuit filed by one of Will Smith’s former friends. The five-figure sum covers only part of what she requested, but the ruling marks a clear legal victory.
The Jada Pinkett Smith court victory comes in a messy dispute involving a man named Bilaal Salaam, who claimed he suffered emotional distress due to alleged threats from Jada and her associates. Salaam had described himself as a decades-long friend of Will Smith. According to court documents, he claimed the Smith team reached out to him for damage control help following the 2022 Oscars slap involving Chris Rock.
Salaam alleged that he declined to help with crisis management. After that refusal, he claimed Jada and her circle began threatening him, particularly after they learned he was working on a memoir that would detail his experiences with the Smith family. Jada denied every allegation. She maintained that Salaam suffered no actual damages and that his claims lacked legal standing.
The judge agreed with Jada on several key points and dismissed a portion of Salaam’s lawsuit. That dismissal triggered the fee award. Although Jada originally asked for 49,181, the judge reduced the amount to 32,836. Still, forcing an opposing party to pay any portion of your legal bills is considered a major procedural win.
The case is not necessarily over. Dismissing some claims does not equal dismissing the entire lawsuit. But the fee award shifts momentum. Salaam now carries a financial penalty for bringing claims the judge found insufficient. That dynamic often pushes plaintiffs toward settlement or withdrawal.
Jada has consistently denied any wrongdoing throughout the process. Her legal team argued that the lawsuit was an attempt to harass and extract money. The judge’s decision to grant fees, even a reduced amount, lends credibility to that position.
This legal fight sits under the shadow of the 2022 Oscars slap, an event that continues to generate litigation, memoirs, and public feuds years later. For Jada Pinkett Smith, this court victory is about more than $32,000. It is about establishing a pattern: she will not pay to make accusers go away. She will fight, and she will win fees.
The next hearing has not been publicly scheduled. But one thing is clear, Jada just scored, and her opponent just wrote a check.
