Will Smith is sued for sexual harassment by America’s Got Talent star

Will Smith has been sued for sexual harassment and wrongful termination by violinist Brian King Joseph, who played on the movie star’s Based on a True Story: 2025 tour, and the A-lister has denied all claims.

Joseph, 32, rose to prominence as a top-three finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2018 and was hired for their 2024 concert after playing at Smith’s home, according to court documents reviewed by the Daily Mail.

Joseph claimed that during a tour stop in Las Vegas last March, he returned to his hotel room at 11pm to find it had been ‘illegally entered’ by an ‘unknown person’ who had left a handwritten note: ‘Brian, I will not be coming back later. [sic] 5:30 brings us forward’, a heart and signature: ‘Stone F.’

The plaintiff claimed that next to the note were ’tissues, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medicine with another person’s name on it, an earring and hospital discharge papers belonging to an unknowing person’.

According to Joseph, she reported the incident to hotel security, the non-emergency police line, and Smith’s management team because she feared someone would ‘return to her room to engage in sexual acts’ with her.

But he claims he was later ’embarrassed’ by tour management, kicked out of gigs and relocated, causing ‘serious emotional distress, economic loss, loss of reputation and other harm’, as well as ‘PTSD and other mental illnesses’.

He added in his lawsuit that ‘the facts’ showed that Smith ‘intentionally groomed and prepared Mr. Joseph for further sexual abuse.’

Smith’s lawyer, Allen B. Grodsky, denied these allegations in a statement to the Daily Mail: ‘Mr. Joseph’s allegations against my client are false, unfounded and reckless.

Joseph, 32, rose to prominence as a top-three finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2018 and has been hired for Smith’s concerts in 2024; Filmed in October 2025

‘These are categorically denied and we will use all legal remedies available to address these allegations and ensure the truth comes to light.’

Joseph said he was invited to Smith’s home to play for him in November 2024, and during that meeting, he was tapped to play at Smith’s concert in San Diego that December and his subsequent Based on a True Story: 2025 tour.

The two men had allegedly become close and spent ‘extra alone time’ with each other throughout their working relationship, which included Joseph performing on Smith’s latest album, Based on a True Story.

Smith is said to have told Joseph at one stage: ‘You and I have such a special bond that I share it with no one else.’

But according to Joseph, things changed on March 20, when the first leg of the tour continued in Las Vegas.

The suit insists that the band and crew made hotel reservations for themselves and received their room numbers and confirmation codes on a spreadsheet, such that ‘no one other than the crew and hotel staff could have access to Plaintiff’s hotel room.’

Joseph claims that he returned to his hotel room at around 11pm on 20 March 2025 and discovered that the room had been ‘illegally entered’ by an ‘unknown person’; however, hotel security did not detect any signs of ‘forced entry’.

When Joseph entered the room, he says, he found a note that read: ‘Brian, I won’t be coming back later. [sic] 5:30, just us (heart drawn), Stone F.’

According to the lawsuit: ‘The remaining items included a tissue belonging to a person unknown to the Plaintiff, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication bearing someone else’s name, earrings and hospital discharge papers.’

Smith was photographed playing dates for his Based on a True Story: 2025 tour at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany, last July.

Joseph, photographed at the Media Access Awards in October 2025, said Smith’s dismissal from his tour had caused ‘serious emotional distress, economic loss, loss of reputation and other harm’.

Joseph’s court documents say that at this point Joseph ‘feared that an unknown person would soon return to his room and engage in sexual intercourse with the Plaintiff.’

She claimed she immediately notified hotel security and Smith’s representatives, took photographs of what she saw, also requested a room change and reported the alleged incident to the non-emergency police line.

Joseph also added that he ‘made it clear that his only concern was for safety and that he did not want to receive any special treatment or compensation.’

Days later, according to her lawsuit, a member of tour management ’embarrassed’ her to the point that she ‘blamed Plaintiff for the incident that occurred on March 20, 2025.’

According to court documents, the same member of tour management told Joseph: ‘Everyone tells me that what happened to you is a lie, that nothing happened and that you made it all up. So tell me, why did you lie and make this up?’

Joseph insists that he was fired in retaliation for reporting the alleged hotel incident; This is the culmination of a disturbance that, according to the plaintiff, caused him ‘severe emotional distress, economic loss, loss of reputation and other harm’.

According to court documents, the “stress” of being fired led to a deterioration in health, which resulted in “major physiological damage,” in addition to which he “suffered from PTSD and other mental illnesses as a result of the termination.”

Joseph filed suit against Smith this Tuesday in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court and requested a jury trial.