Smokey Robinson’s lawyer denies sexual assault allegations by former housekeepers

A lawyer for Smokey Robinson is speaking out against the “vile” sexual assault allegations against the Motown singer.

In a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly, Robinson’s attorney Christopher Frost called the accusations “false” and said his legal team will be asking the Los Angeles County Superior Court to dismiss the complaint by four of the singer’s former housekeepers accusing him of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence, and creating a hostile work environment. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $50 million in damages. 

“As this case progresses, the evidence (the crucial element that guides us) will show that this is simply an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon — $50 million, to be exact,” Frost said in the statement.

Four women, all identified as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday claiming that Robinson sexually assaulted them during their time working as housekeepers in his home in the Chatsworth neighborhood.

The complaint, which has been reviewed by EW, also accuses the singer of assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, gender violence, creating a hostile work environment, and several labor code violations.

The complaint also names the singer’s wife, Frances Robinson, as a defendant, alleging that she “perpetuated a hostile work environment” and “failed to take the appropriate corrective action to prevent” her husband’s “deviant misconduct.”

“We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped,” the plaintiffs’ attorney, John Harris, said at a press conference on Tuesday. When asked about the amount of damages, the lawyer responded, “We wanted to get his attention. It’s a serious matter, and the assaults against these women were horrendous and despicable. Hence, a big number.”

The complaint also claims that all four of the women did not report Robinson’s alleged actions to the authorities due to “fear of losing [their] livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame and humiliation” to themselves and their families, as well as feeling “threatened and intimidated” by the singer’s “well-recognized celebrity status and his influential friends and associates.” Does 1, 2, and 3 also said that they feared a “possible adverse effect on [their] immigration status.”

“Our four clients have a common thread: they’re Hispanic women who were employed as housekeepers by the Robinsons earning below minimum wage,” Harris said at the press conference, referencing the claims made in the suit. “As low-wage workers in vulnerable positions, they lacked the resources and options necessary to protect themselves from sexual assault throughout their tenure as employees for the Robinsons.”

Frost slammed the “bizarre theatrics” of the news conference and accused the plaintiffs’ attorneys of “trying to enlist the public as an unwitting participant in the media circus they are trying to create.”

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“We will have more to say in the coming days as we make our legal response, and in time Mr. Robinson will respond in his own words,” Frost added in the statement. “We ask anyone following this case to reserve judgment as the evidence comes to light and all the actual facts of the case unfold.”

Frost said that he and his legal team will also be asking the court to “address that in their statements to the press about Mr. Robinson, the plaintiff’s attorneys have reached beyond the bounds of liberties that even lawyers are typically allowed in this context.”

On Wednesday, The Daily Mail reported that the Grammy winner said he was “appalled” when asked about the allegations over the phone, but quickly ended the call, saying he “can’t speak about this right now.”

Neither Harris or the plaintiffs’ other lawyers have said whether their clients intend to pursue criminal charges. According to The New York Times, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it had not opened an investigation.