Smokey Robinson denies 'vile' sexual assault allegations

Smokey Robinson’s lawyer said allegations of rape and sexual assault against him in a lawsuit from four former housekeepers are ‘vile’ and ‘false’.

Attorney Christopher Frost said in a statement Wednesday that the evidence ‘will show that this is simply an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon’.

The suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday against the Motown music luminary seeks at least $50 million in damages over the alleged assaults, which the women say took place between 2007 and 2024. Smokey Robinson’s wife, Frances Robinson, is also named as a defendant for allegedly enabling his behaviour and creating an abusive work environment.

“We will be addressing the 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’s statement said.

The four women each allege that Smokey Robinson would wait until he was alone with them in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them over their objections, in some cases for many years.

“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 Tuesday.

The Associated Press doesn’t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they publicly identify themselves. The women, whose names are withheld in the lawsuit, appeared with their lawyers at the news conference. They didn’t speak, and they covered their faces with masks.

Frost called the news conference ‘bizarre theatrics’, and an attempt to ‘enlist the public as an unwitting participant in the media circus they are trying to create. We ask anyone following this case to reserve judgment as the evidence comes to light and all the actual facts of the case unfold’.

One woman said that she worked for Robinson from 2012 until 2024, and was assaulted at least 20 times in that span. Another said that she worked for him from 2014 until 2020, and was assaulted at least 23 times.

All of the accusers 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. The same fears have kept the women from going to police to report Robinson, their lawyers said, though they also said they believe the criminal investigation is warranted.

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

Frost said that Robinson would soon address the allegations himself and that they would be asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

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 as a central part of the Motown Records machine – both with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, with songs including ‘Tears of a Clown’ and ‘The Tracks of My Tears’.

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