Will Smith is the latest celebrity to be accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.
According to People, a man named Brian King Joseph has filed a lawsuit against the actor and his company, Treyball Studios Management, Inc.
Joseph, a professional violinist, says he joined Smith on the road for his global tour, Based on a True Story: 2025, which is where he was allegedly “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation.”
What reportedly followed was a “traumatic series of events,” including one time around March 20 at 11 pm, when a handwritten note that read “Brian, I’ll be back…just us,” was left in his Las Vegas hotel room.
The complaint alleges the room had no signs of forced entry, and the only other people who had access to the room were tour staff.
Alongside the note was “wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another individual’s name, an earring, and hospital discharge paperwork” for someone he didn’t know.
He took it as a threat of sexual violence against him and “feared that an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts.”
NBC News notes that Joseph reported the incident to Smith’s management team and to the hotel staff, which he claims led to his firing after staffers “shamed” him and called him a liar.
The musician says the whole ordeal left him with “severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages,” including “PTSD and other mental illness as a result of the termination.”
Joseph details his personal relationship with Smith, saying they spent a lot of time alone together and that Smith told him they had a unique “special connection.”
Smith’s attorney, Allen B. Grodsky, denied the claims in a statement:
“Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless. They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light.”
The complaint does not specify damages and also claims wrongful termination.
See social media’s reaction to the allegations below.
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