US singer Smokey Robinson’s lawyer calls sexual assault claims ‘vile’ and ‘false’

LOS ANGELES – A lawyer for Smokey Robinson said late on May 7 that the sexual assault allegations against the Motown singer were “vile” and “false”, and that a lawsuit filed by the four women making the accusations was an attempt to extract millions of dollars from him.

The women worked as Robinson’s housekeepers,

and their lawsuit accuses him of abusing them dozens of times. The suit, which identifies the women only as Jane Does 1 through 4, says Robinson raped them repeatedly while his wife, Frances, who is a co-defendant, turned a blind eye.

In a statement to The New York Times, Robinson’s lawyer Christopher Frost called the suit “an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon”.

“We ask anyone following this case to reserve judgment as the evidence comes to light and all the actual facts of the case unfold,” Mr Frost said.

Lawyers for the women who filed the suit said in a statement on May 8 that “we stand behind our four clients’ truthful claims, which are neither false nor vile, but clearly describe Mr Robinson’s despicable criminal acts”.

The lawsuit, which was filed on May 6 in Superior Court in Los Angeles, says three of the women feared reporting Robinson to the authorities because of their immigration status.

“As low-wage workers in vulnerable positions, they lacked the resources and options necessary to protect themselves from sexual assaults throughout their tenure as employees for the Robinsons,” their lawyer John Harris said on May 6.

The lawsuit goes into graphic detail about the abuse claims.

Robinson, it alleges, would drop off his wife at a nail salon and rush home to assault one of the women while she was alone in the Robinsons’ house in Chatsworth, a Los Angeles neighbourhood.

A second woman, the suit says, was sexually assaulted at least 23 times during the six years she worked for the Robinsons, from 2014 to 2020.

The suit says that a third woman, who worked for the Robinsons from 2012 to 2024, was sexually assaulted at least 20 times. The fourth plaintiff, who says she worked for the couple from 2006 until April 2024, said she was sexually assaulted by Robinson at the Chatsworth house and at several of his other homes.

The women’s lawyers have not said whether their clients intend to pursue criminal charges. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which covers the area where the lawsuit notes that the assaults occurred, said it had not opened an investigation.

In his statement, Mr Frost said he and his legal team would soon ask a judge to dismiss the lawsuit and would “have more to say on this matter”.

Robinson and the musical group he led, The Miracles, were Motown royalty, writing and performing some of the biggest hits in the record company’s catalogue.

Either alone or with others, he wrote a slew of classic songs: Shop Around (1960), You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (1962), The Tracks Of My Tears (1965), Going To A Go-Go (1965), I Second That Emotion (1967) and The Tears Of A Clown (1970).

He also wrote or co-wrote songs for other artistes, including My Girl (1964), which was a hit for American vocal group The Temptations, and My Guy (1964), for late American singer Mary Wells.

Robinson has been honoured by the Recording Academy, the Kennedy Centre and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

He recently released an album titled What The World Needs Now in April and has been on a media blitz to promote it. He is next scheduled to perform on May 9 in Biloxi, Mississippi, at a 1,600-seat casino theatre. NYTIMES