Jada Pinkett Smith secured a major victory in her legal battle with Will Smith’s former friend.
PEOPLE reported that Bilaal Salaam was ordered by a Los Angeles judge to pay the actress $32,836 in attorney costs and other legal fees. The judge came three weeks after Pinkett Smith filed a motion. According to the documents, the actress requested Salaam pay $49,181.23 for “her reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred.”
The ruling also stated that the court lowered the amount because some of Pinkett Smith’s attorneys billed at “high hourly rates” and took “excessive” time analyzing complaints, although they had “significant experience.”
Originally, Salaam asked for the fee to be lowered because of his “inability to pay.” Eventually, the request was denied” because it was raised for the first time at the hearing,” instead of in opposition. Salaam was successful in getting “a 15% reduction is appropriate, due to Defendant’s partial success.”
Salaam originally hit Pinkett Smith with a $3 million emotional distress lawsuit. In the suit, he claimed she and her entourage threatened him after he refused to help with “crisis management” following the infamous 2022 Oscars slap.
When the suit went public, Pinkett-Smith told TMZ that she and her husband would pursue legal action.
The 2022 Oscars slap remains one of the most shocking moments in live television history. During the 94th Academy Awards, Chris Rock made a joke about Pinkett Smith’s shaved head—a result of her battle with alopecia. In response, Will walked onto the stage, slapped Rock across the face, and returned to his seat, shouting expletives.
Although Smith won Best Actor for King Richard, he would be banned from all Oscar events for 10 years.
The next hearing for the case will take place on Aug. 19, as the court denied Salaam’s request for a trial.