Smokey Robinson accused of former housekeepers' sexual assault

Four former housekeepers of Smokey Robinson allege in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the Motown music luminary repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped them while they worked for him.

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The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024, and labour violations including a hostile work environment, illegally long hours and lack of pay.

A message seeking comment from a representative for the 85-year-old Smokey Robinson was not immediately answered.

The four women each say that Robinson would wait until he was alone with them in his Los Angeles house then sexually assault and rape them over their objections.

“We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped,” the women’s attorney John Harris said at a news conference.

All said they eventually quit over the assaults, though in some cases it took several years. And all said they feared coming forward over fears of retaliation, public shame and possible effects on their immigration status.

“Having to tell their husband and children of these despicable actions left them filled with shame and embarrassment,” Harris said. “So throughout their dreadful experiences with Mr. Robinson, all four women remained silent.”

He said that as low-wage earners, they also all feared ‘missing a payday, and not being able to afford rent or buy food for their families’.

All four women withheld their legal names, citing privacy concerns and are identified as Jane Does in court documents. They appeared at the news conference with their attorneys, but did not speak, and covered their faces with masks.

The lawsuit also names Robinson’s wife, Frances Robinson, as a defendant, alleging that she enabled his behaviour despite knowing about his past sexual misconduct. It also blames her for the hostile work environment, saying she berated them with language that included ethnic slurs.

One woman said she worked for the Robinsons from 2012 until 2024, and was assaulted at least 20 times in that span. Another said she worked for them from 2014 until 2020, and was assaulted at least 23 times. Another said she worked for them for a year before quitting in 2024 and was assaulted at least seven times. The fourth woman, who said she also acted as Frances Robinson’s personal assistant, hairdresser and cook, worked for them for 18 years before resigning in 2024. She cited similar experiences to the other women, but did not say how often she was assaulted.

The women, some of whom worked for the Robinsons at the same time as each other, also kept stories of the assaults from one another, but are now bonding over their experience, the attorneys said. They declined to give details at the news conference about how they came forward and learned there were others.

The suit seeks damages based on sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and other allegations.

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“Obviously, no amount of money can compensate these women for what Mr. Robinson put them through,” Harris said. But he said the $50 million was warranted ‘based on the gravity of Mr. Robinson’s despicable and reprehensible misconduct’.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Herbert Hayden said that while they felt the assaults were worthy of criminal investigation, the women have not filed police reports, based on the same fears that kept them from coming forward.

Smokey Robinson, a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s, both with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including ‘Tears of a Clown’ and ‘The Tracks of My Tears’.

He was a central part of the Motown Records music machine in his hometown of Detroit as an artist, producer and songwriter for other artists.