Will Smith has been sued by a former touring musician who alleges the Oscar-winning actor and Grammy-winning rapper engaged in “deliberate grooming” behavior and later retaliated against him after he reported what the lawsuit describes as a “hotel intrusion” during a tour stop in Las Vegas.
The complaint, filed earlier this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court and obtained by Fox News Digital, names Smith and a management company associated with him. The suit alleges that violinist Brian King Joseph was fired days after reporting the incident to hotel security, police, and representatives for Smith.
The lawsuit does not specify a damages amount but places Smith at the center of a serious set of allegations. Smith has not yet publicly responded to the claims.
According to the complaint, Joseph began performing with Smith in December 2024 and later joined the tour for Smith’s most recent album, Based on a True Story. The filing states that Smith and Joseph spent time alone together working during the tour, during which Smith allegedly told Joseph that they shared a “special connection” unlike any other.
The lawsuit accuses Smith of “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation,” though it does not allege that any sexual contact occurred.
The central incident is alleged to have taken place on or around March 20 in Las Vegas. Joseph claims that when he returned to his hotel room at approximately 11 p.m., it appeared someone had entered the room while he was away.
Hotel security allegedly found no signs of forced entry and informed Joseph that only members of Smith’s management team had access to the room, according to the complaint.
Inside the room, Joseph said he found wipes, a beer bottle, an earring, a red backpack, HIV medication bearing another person’s name, hospital discharge paperwork belonging to someone he did not know, and a handwritten note that read: “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us [drawn heart], Stone F.”
“Plaintiff feared that an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts with Plaintiff,” the complaint states.
After reporting the incident, Joseph alleges that he was blamed for what happened and subsequently dismissed from the tour. The lawsuit quotes a representative for Smith as telling Joseph: “Everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie, nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up. So, tell me, why did you lie and make this up?”
Joseph was later replaced by another violinist. According to the complaint, he was told the tour was “moving in a different direction.”
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What a load of crap.