Will Smith Allegation

In November 2023, a man named Brother Bilaal, who claimed to be a former assistant and close friend of Will Smith, made some shocking allegations on a YouTube interview with Tasha K. In the interview, Bilaal alleged that some years back he walked in on Duane having sex with Will Smith. Through representatives, Smith denied the allegation and in an paparazzi interview a day after the interview was published, Jada Pinkett Smith indicated the couple was planning to sue Bilaal. Perhaps unrelated, but interesting nonetheless, when Duane filed for bankruptcy in 2016, one of his biggest single debts was a $1.5 million personal loan made to him by… Will Smith.

It may also be worth noting that the interviewer, Tasha K, is the same media personality who was sued for defamation by Cardi B. The lawsuit stemmed over roughly 20 videos posted by Tasha in which she alleged that she knew Cardi B before she became famous and that the rapper used cocaine, engaged in prostitution and contracted herpes. Cardi B won the defamation lawsuit and was awarded $4.25 million in damages. In June 2023 Tasha K filed for bankruptcy. In the bankruptcy filing Tasha claimed to have just $95 in her checking account, a total of $46,000 worth of assets and that she and her husband earned a total of $30,000 combined in the previous 12 months.

Biography

Duane Martin was born in Brooklyn, New York in August 1965. He played college basketball at New York University and was signed to the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks as an un-drafted free agent in 1989. He was cut and did not get to play in the NBA, so he focused on acting.

His first TV appearance came in 1990 in “Moe’s World.” He made his film debut in the 1992 basketball movie “White Men Can’t Jump.” He also starred in the basketball-related “Above the Rim.” Martin has gone on to star in the films “Down Periscope,” “Scream 2,” “The Faculty,” “Any Given Sunday,” “Deliver Us from Eva,” and “Ride or Die.” He has had recurring roles in the TV shows “Out All Night,” “Getting Personal,” “All of Us,” “Rita Rocks,” and “The Paul Reiser Show.”

In 1994 Duane appeared in the Boyz II Men music video “I’ll Make Love to You.” In 2013 he appeared on the reality show “Real Husbands of Hollywood.”

Personal Life

Duane Martin married actress Tisha Campbell in 1996. They have two sons together. They separated in 2018. Their divorce was finalized in 2020.

Bankruptcy and Divorce

On April 4, 2016, it was revealed that Duane and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the filing, the couple claimed to be drowning in $15 million worth of debt, with only had $313,000 in assets between them. Their listed assets include $65,000 in real estate and $248,000 in personal property. Their combined monthly income was $7,655, but their monthly expenses were $16,953. The filing showed that they owned a 2014 Range Rover, a 2016 Range Rover, a 1999 Kawasaki Drifter and a Jeep Wrangler.

They owed $15,145,387 in liabilities to various creditors including $3 million which is owed to Broadway Federal Bank for a real estate loan, $1.5 million owed to Will Smith as a personal loan, and $9.5 million to the City of Los Angeles for a personal guaranty. They also owed tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

In February 2018, Tisha filed for divorce from Duane after 22 years together. In a September 2018 court filing, Tisha said she had $1.5 million worth of assets but did not have a steady source of income. She claimed her monthly expenses totaled $33,000 and Duane’s monthly income exceeded $62,000. Tisha claimed Duane hid money during their marriage. She also claimed that Duane owned $750,000 worth of t-shirts (500 shirts that are somehow worth $1500 a piece).

In December 2020 Tisha and Duane’s divorce was finally finalized. According to the terms of the settlement, neither party would receive spousal or child support. Tisha was allowed to keep a leased home and a leased 2020 BMW. Duane was allowed to keep a separate leased home, a leased Bentley and two motorcycles.

Chatsworth Mansion/Will Smith Loan

In 2004 Tisha and Duane paid $880,000 for a vacation home in Lake Arrowhead, California. They sold this home in 2009  for $1.597 million.

In 2005, they paid $900,000 for a 9,000 square foot home in Chatsworth, Ca. This became their primary residence for the next 13 years. Around the time of their 2018 divorce filing, the couple listed the property for sale for $2.695 million. At one point Tisha moved to block Duane from receiving proceeds from the sale of the home. In a filing she argued that because Duane was so heavily in debt and essentially caused the couple to sell their family home, he should not have been allowed to benefit from the real estate sale.

A separate legal filing revealed that Duane owed Will Smith $1.5 million from a personal loan related to this property. After buying the home for $900,000 in 2005, Duane subsequently borrowed $1.9 million from a bank to either perform renovations or construct a new property. After defaulting on that loan, in 2012 Duane arranged to buy-out the debt from the bank for $1.4 million, using money borrowed from Will Smith. He subsequently put the home in the name of an LLC and began paying his own company $5,000 per month in rent.

In August 2019 a sale of the property was cleared to move forward and in October 2019 it sold for $2.45 million. From the proceeds of the sale, $1.5 million went to Smith, $122,000 paid down various home-related debts and $485,000 went to the bankruptcy estate to pay off creditors. To ensure the buyer was not secretly a straw-man to benefit Duane or Tisha, the buyer was required to sign a document certifying that they did not personally know Duane and Tisha or Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.