Will Smith accused of sexual harassment by violinist Brian King Joseph
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
According to documents obtained by Fox News Digital, Will Smith was accused of sexual harassment by Brian King Joseph in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles just before the new year.
Joseph, a professional violinist, is the owner of the Academy Award-winning actor and Treyball Studios Management, Inc. The complaint against and his associates alleges that Smith “intentionally groomed and groomed Mr. Joseph for further sexual abuse.”
The “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It” singer allegedly hired Joseph to join her “Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour” following her first performance with Smith in December 2024.
JADA PINKETT SMITH ALLEGEDLY MADE DEATH THREATS TO HER HUSBAND’S FORMER PARTNERSHIP, FACED WITH A 3 MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT
Will Smith was accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed on December 30. (Matt Winkelmeyer)
Joseph claimed their “relationship grew even closer” after Smith offered him the chance to play on a few tracks of the rapper’s upcoming album.
“Smith and Plaintiff began spending more time alone; Smith even said to Plaintiff, ‘You and I have a special bond that no one else has,’ and made similar statements that showed his closeness to Plaintiff,” the documents state.
Joseph allegedly joined the first leg of the tour in Las Vegas in March 2025, where he was provided with a hotel room booked by Smith and his team. He claimed that his personal room was “inaccessible to any other person other than the crew and hotel staff.”
WILL SMITH ACCUSED OF USING AI TO CREATE FAKE CROWD IN CONCERT PERFORMANCE FOOTAGE
The violinist, who competed on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018, claimed that she put the key to her room in her bag, which she left in a van responsible for transporting the cast and crew. It was claimed that the management spent hours getting the bag after the rehearsal at the venue.
Brian King Joseph was a finalist on “America’s Got Talent” in 2018. (Trae Patton)
When Joseph returned to his hotel room later that evening, he claimed he “found evidence indicating that an unknown person had unlawfully entered the room.” Joseph then called hotel security.
“The evidence included a handwritten note addressed to the Plaintiff by name, which read: ‘Brian, I will not be coming back later.’ [sic] 5:30, just us (scratched heart), Stone F’,” the lawsuit states. “Among the remaining items were a tissue belonging to a person unknown to the Plaintiff, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another person’s name on it, an earring, and hospital discharge papers.”
According to the documents, Joseph feared that an unknown person would return to his room and engage in sexual acts and “immediately notified hotel security and Defendant’s representatives, obtained photographic documentation, requested a room change, and called the local non-emergency police line (311) to report the incident.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
Days later, Joseph claimed that Smith’s team began “blaming” him for the incident. “Instead of protecting herself from further attacks and attempting to understand Plaintiff’s complaint, Plaintiff was shamed and told that she was terminated by Defendant,” the complaint states. The statement was included.
Will Smith rose to fame as a rapper before starring in the movie “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” in the ’90s. (Isa Foltin/WireImage)
“When the Claimant requested further justification, Tim Miller, acting for the Defendants, deflected the blame for termination to the Claimant and replied: ‘I don’t know, you tell me, because everyone tells me everything that happened to you was a lie, nothing happened and you made it all up. So tell me, why did you lie and make it up?'”
At Miller’s request, Joseph prepared a timeline “to explain the traumatic series of events that occurred that evening.”
“However, following Plaintiff’s report and termination, Defendant hired another violinist to assume the same position on tour,” the documents stated. “This hiring made a strong case that Defendant’s stated reason for termination was pretextual.”
DO YOU LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Joseph alleged: “The facts strongly indicate that Defendant Willard Carroll Smith II intentionally groomed and prepared Mr. Joseph for further sexual abuse. The sequence of events, Smith’s prior statements to Plaintiff, and the circumstances of the hotel trespass all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident.”
Brian King Joseph allegedly suffered “serious emotional distress” following the incident. (Max Faulkner)
The lawsuit continued: “Defendant’s actions caused Plaintiff severe emotional distress, economic loss, loss of reputation, and other harm. Plaintiff also suffered harm as a result of the stress of losing his job, impaired health, and caused major physiological damage. Plaintiff suffered from PTSD and other mental illnesses as a result of the termination.”
Representatives for Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Joseph’s complaint comes on the heels of his former partner Bilaal Salaam’s $3 million lawsuit against Jada Pinkett Smith.
Salaam claimed that Jada approached him with threats of physical violence and asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement during a private meeting at a movie theater. calabasas for her husband’s birthday in September 2021.
