A violinist who performed on Will Smith’s concert tour last year filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Mr. Smith and his production company this week.
A lawyer for the musician, Brian King Joseph, said in the court papers that his client was fired in retaliation for reporting in March that someone had broken into his hotel room and left several items in an act he described as sexual harassment.
According to the lawsuit, Mr. Joseph entered his assigned Las Vegas hotel room while on tour and found a handwritten note to “Brian,” along with a backpack, a beer bottle, wipes and a bottle of H.I.V. medication.
The lawsuit says that Mr. Joseph, after encountering the note, “feared that an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts” with him and it elsewhere accuses Mr. Smith of “grooming” Mr. Joseph for sexual activity.
The lawsuit says the note was signed “Stone F,” but the court papers do not elaborate on who the plaintiff viewed as its author.
Allen B. Grodsky, a lawyer for Mr. Smith, released a statement that called the allegations “false, baseless and reckless.”
“They are categorically denied,” he said, “and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light.”
Mr. Joseph’s lawsuit asserts he was fired after reporting what he had found, including medical paperwork belonging to someone he did not know, to tour management and hotel security. It says that he filed a report with the hotel and that a few days later, Mr. Smith’s production company fired him from the “Based on a True Story” tour.
The lawsuit filed in Superior Court of Los Angeles County on Tuesday says the termination caused “severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm and other damages” for Mr. Joseph.
The lawsuit says that the violinist, who finished third on a season of “America’s Got Talent,” auditioned at Mr. Smith’s home in November 2024 and was then invited to perform with him in concerts and contribute to an upcoming album.
Mr. Smith and Mr. Joseph began spending time alone and “their relationship grew even closer,” the lawsuit says, without going into detail. It says Mr. Smith once told him, “You and I have such a special connection, that I don’t have with anyone else.”
The lawsuit points to that statement and details of the hotel break-in while asserting that Mr. Smith “was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation,” and that there was “a pattern of predatory behavior.”
It does not describe specific actions by Mr. Smith. Mr. Joseph’s lawyer, Jonathan J. Delshad, did not respond to questions about the lawsuit on Friday.
Efforts to reach Treyball Studio Management, Mr. Smith’s production company, were unsuccessful.
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