Former housekeepers accused of slanderous rape allegations face legal action by music icon Smokey Robinson.
Los Angeles (AP) - Motown legend Smokey Robinson and his wife, Frances, have filed a defamation lawsuit against four former housekeepers who accused Robinson of rape, prompting a police investigation. The legal action, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that the women's accusations are "fabricated in an extortionate scheme."
The Robinsons' lawsuit counters the women's May 6 lawsuit and the May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is investigating criminal allegations against Robinson. The women, represented by attorneys John Harris and Herbert Hayden, seek at least $50 million, alleging that Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them between 2007 and 2024. They claim Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace.
Friendly text messages from the women to Robinson, whose hits like "Tears of a Clown" and "The Tracks of My Tears" made him a major 1960s hitmaker, contradict their claims against him. According to the filing, the women remained with the Robinsons for years, vacationed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts, requested concert tickets, and received assistance from them, including financial aid for dental surgery and support for a disabled family member.
The filing, which includes photos from the vacations and gatherings as exhibits, states that despite the Robinsons' generosity, the women were secretly resentful and intended to enrich themselves at the Robinsons' expense. "During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons," the counterclaim states.
Harris and Hayden, the housekeepers' attorneys, described the defamation lawsuit as an attempt to "silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault." They intend to argue that the Robinsons' lawsuit should be dismissed, invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue.
Each of the four women accuses Robinson of waiting until they were alone in his Los Angeles home before sexually assaulting and raping them. One woman alleges she was assaulted at least 20 times from 2012 until 2024, and another claims she was assaulted at least 23 times while working for Robinson from 2014 until 2020. The Robinsons' legal filing seeks to strike the women's lawsuit as invalid, arguing that they have no right to hide their identities.
The Sheriff's Department provided no details on the investigation beyond confirming its existence. Robinson, inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist.
In related news, Robinson's latest album, "Smokey Robinson Sings Champion," was released in April and features renditions of songs made famous by athletes.
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