Bilaal Salaam’s push to question Will Smith has run into an immediate wall. Jada Pinkett Smith’s lawyer responded that, in the case over Salaam’s $3 million lawsuit, there was nothing to discuss about a proposed deposition of Will Smith.
The exchange matters because Salaam asked on July 7 to depose Will Smith, and TMZ reported on July 17 that the request was turned aside. That puts a fresh spotlight on the Will Smith Bilaal Salaam Dispute at a moment when Salaam is still trying to widen the case beyond his own claims against Jada Pinkett Smith.
Salaam sued Jada Pinkett Smith in 2025, saying she threatened him during a 2021 confrontation. He also alleged that people connected to her targeted him after he refused to help manage fallout from Will Smith’s Oscars slap and began planning a memoir about the Smith family. Pinkett Smith has denied wrongdoing.
Her lawyer’s answer was blunt: “As for your proposed deposition of Will Smith, there is nothing to meet and confer about.” TMZ also reported that Will Smith is not a party to the case and has not received a subpoena, which undercuts Salaam’s effort to bring him into the dispute by request alone. In plain terms, a party can ask for testimony, but without a subpoena or a court order, the request does not compel a non-party witness to appear.
The broader case has already gone badly for Salaam. After Pinkett Smith’s legal team challenged parts of the complaint under California’s anti-SLAPP law, a judge dismissed several claims and ordered Salaam to pay $32,836 in attorney fees. Salaam has also recently asked the judge to require Pinkett Smith to sit for another deposition within 30 days, while her lawyers argued she had already answered questions in a related proceeding and proposed limiting any additional questioning to one hour.
That leaves the dispute at a familiar point for lawsuits that try to reach beyond the named parties: Salaam wants more testimony, but the record now shows no formal subpoena for Will Smith and no court order requiring him to appear. The next move belongs to the judge, who will decide whether Salaam gets any additional questioning at all, and whether the case stays focused on Pinkett Smith or opens the door to new witnesses.
