Will Smith accused of doubling down on wife Jada's threats to allegedly have one-time friend killed

Will Smith has been accused of verbally backing up violent threats made by his wife Jada Pinkett Smith against a one-time friend who had plans to pen a book about their family.

Bilaal Salaam, a musician with a one-time association with the Oscar-winning actor, 58, is suing Pinkett Smith, 55, for intentional infliction of emotional distress amid a series of claims he has made about her in recent years.

In a legal complaint filed Friday and reviewed by The Daily Mail, Salaam claimed that the threat had been made during a phone call 'on or about October 5, 2021,' in which he spoke with Will, Jada and Smith's friend Charlie Mack.

Salaam claimed in his filing that Jada told him 'that she would have him killed if he continued to seek to publish a memoir about his time with the Smiths or to give interviews.' Pinkett Smith has denied the allegations against her.

Salaam said in the complaint that when he 'then asked Will Smith whether he had heard what [Jada] said, Will Smith responded, "You heard what my wife said."'

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for both parties for further comment on the story. 

Will Smith, 58, has been accused of verbally backing up violent threats made by his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 55, against a one-time friend who had plans to pen a book about their family. Pictured in Paris earlier this year 

In the complaint, Salaam claimed that 'on or about September 25, 2021,' he had been at 'a private, invitation-only event for Will Smith’s birthday in the Calabasas area.'

Salaam said in the filing that Jada had 'walked up to' him 'accompanied by several members of her entourage' and  'pointed her index finger close to his face' – with 'her fingernail [touching] his face.'

Jada told Salaam 'that if he kept talking to people about her business, he would "end up missing," or she would make sure he would "catch a bullet or a beatdown,"' Salaam said in the complaint.

In the complaint, Salaam claimed Jada had 'demanded that he sign a non-disclosure agreement "or else"' then 'walked away.'

Salaam claimed in his filing that he considered the alleged threats represented 'a genuine threat to his life' based on her 'substantial wealth, resources, and a wide network of associates.'

In the complaint, Salaam said that in the October 5, 2021 exchange, he told Will, Jada and Mack 'not to contact him again.'

In the complaint, Salaam claimed actor Duane Martin, an associate of Will and Jada, contacted him the morning after Will's shocking slap of Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Salaam said Martin told him that Jada wanted him to be involved in an 'all hands on deck' public relations effort 'for damage control' following the incident, but he 'refused to participate in what he believed to be a deceptive' campaign.

Bilaal Salaam, a musician with a one-time association with the Oscar-winning actor, 58, is suing Pinkett Smith, 55, for intentional infliction of emotional distress 

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith pictured in March of 2022 in LA 

Salaam said in the filing that Martin told him he'd face 'serious problems' if he didn't cooperate with Jada's requests. 

Salaam previously claimed in a November 2025 legal complaint that he and Will Smith had been friendly for four decades. 

After he rejected the job offer, Salaam claimed in a legal complaint the Smith family embarked on a 'retaliatory campaign' against him, which heightened amid news that he was penning a memoir about his association with the family over the years. 

Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been wed since New Year's Eve of 1997, and are parents to son Jaden, 28, and daughter Willow, 26, while the Oscar-winner is also father to son Trey, 33, with ex-wife Sheree Zampino, 58. 

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on March 27, 2022 after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head.

Rock said: 'Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it!' in a reference to the 1997 movie which featured Demi Moore with a shaved head. (Pinkett Smith has been diagnosed with alopecia, which causes hair loss.)

Smith then walked onstage and smacked Rock, returned to his seat and shouted at him twice, 'Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth!' to a stunned audience. 

Later in the evening – in his acceptance speech after winning the Best Actor Oscar for his role as tennis patriarch Richard Williams in King Richard – Smith apologized to the Academy and other nominees, but made no reference to Rock.

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on March 27, 2022 after he made a joke about Pinkett Smith's shaved head 

Smith has subsequently apologized on multiple occasions over the incident and resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ahead of being issued a 10-year ban from the Oscars.

In an apology he issued in July 2022 over the incident in an online clip, Smith said his spouse 'had nothing to do with' his attack on Rock.

'I made a choice on my own from my own experiences, from my history with Chris,' he said. 'I want to say sorry to my kids and my family for the heat that I've brought on all of us.'

He added: 'I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk, and when he is he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable, and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk.'