Violinist Brian King Joseph has sued Will Smith and his company for sexual harassment, also claiming he was unfairly dismissed and for retaliation.
According to the lawsuit filed in California Supreme Court, Smith "intentionally worked to manipulate Mr. Joseph into sexual exploitation" after inviting the violinist to join his tour in November 2024.
The lawsuit describes a series of events that occurred in March of last year during the tour, where Joseph claims he discovered that someone had entered his Las Vegas hotel room.
His testimony also included a handwritten note:
“Brian, I’ll be back... just us,” with a heart drawn and signed “Stone F,”
as well as other strange objects such as rags, a beer bottle, a red bag, a bottle of HIV treatment medication with someone else’s name on it, an earring, and hospital discharge papers that did not belong to Joseph.
Joseph claims he was afraid that an unknown person would return to the room to perform sexual acts with him.
Following this news, Smith's lawyer responded to PEOPLE, denying all allegations.
“Mr. Joseph’s allegations against our client are false, baseless and reckless. We categorically deny them and will use all legal means to address these allegations and bring the truth to light.”
According to the lawsuit, Joseph reported the incident to hotel staff, the police, and then the tour management team. After that, a staff member fired him.
