"I am appalled" — Smokey Robinson addresses $50M s*xual assault lawsuit while singer's lawyer calls the allegations "vile, false"
American singer-songwriter and record producer Smokey Robinson was accused by four of his former employees of s*xual assault in a civil action lawsuit on Tuesday, May 6. During a phone interview with the Daily Mail on Wednesday, May 7, the Cruisn' singer briefly addressed the accusations made against him in the complaint filed in Los Angeles.
"I am appalled. I can't speak about this right now," the Motown singer commented.
Additionally, Christopher Frost, Robinson's attorney, confirmed in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter on the same day that he was "responding on behalf of [his] clients Smokey and Frances Robinson." He further added that "the evidence will show that this is simply an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon."
“Through this process we have seen the bizarre theatrics of yesterday’s news conference, as the plaintiffs’ attorneys outlined vile, false allegations against Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, trying to enlist the public as an unwitting participant in the media circus they are trying to create,” Frost added in his statement.
Smokey Robinson has been accused by four women of s*xual assault and battery
After four women sued the One Heartbeat singer on Tuesday, Smokey Robinson disputed the "vile, false" claims of s*xual assault. Four Jane Does, who worked for the former Miracles frontman and his wife Frances over a nearly two-decade span, accused him of s*xual battery, assault, negligence, false imprisonment, gender violence, and creating a hostile work environment.
They further alleged that he reportedly used "physical barriers, force, threats of force," and other tactics, like locking his bedroom door, to keep the women from leaving during the alleged assaults. The complaint also claimed that Robinson caused "severe and excruciating pain" to the women by repeatedly forcing himself onto them without their consent.
The lawsuit also claimed that Smokey Robinson's wife, Frances, had reportedly settled cases with other women who allegedly suffered similar assaults by the R&B singer. The plaintiffs claimed she had "full knowledge of his prior acts of s*xual misconduct" but did not take appropriate actions to stop his "deviant misconduct."
The couple was also accused by the plaintiffs, who were all housekeepers, of not paying overtime and the minimum wage. The complaint alleged that Jane Doe 1, who started working for the Robinsons in January 2023, was abused by the singer a minimum of seven times before quitting in February 2024.
In addition to "being threatened and intimidated" by Smokey Robinson's fame, she and the other three plaintiffs reportedly claimed that they did not disclose his alleged assaults to authorities out of fear of losing their "livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation."
Additionally, according to Jane Doe 2, who was employed by the Robinsons from May 2014 to February 2020, the celebrity abused her at least 23 times. Robinson allegedly "r*ped" her and made her "perform oral s*x," according to the complaint.
In addition to this, Smokey Robinson was accused of r*ping Jane Doe 3 "at least 20 times" while she worked as a cleaner from February 2012 to April 2024, according to the complaint. Jane Doe 4, who was employed by the Robinsons from October 2006 to April 2024, allegedly quit as a result of the s*xual harassment and assaults, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs requested at least $50 million in damages. Robinson's attorney, Christopher Frost, said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that he would "fiercely defend" the Robinsons "against these false allegations."
He also disclosed his intentions to submit a motion to dismiss the suit.
"Numerous aspects of the complaint that defy credulity as well as issues relating to purported timelines, inconsistencies and relationships between the plaintiffs and others," Frost said.
Meanwhile, PEOPLE's request for comment was not immediately answered by the star's lawyer.
