*Motown icon Smokey Robinson is confronting the most controversial crisis of his 60‑year career. Four women who once worked as housekeepers in the singer’s Los Angeles–area residences have filed a $50 million civil complaint, accusing the 85‑year‑old of rape, sexual battery, false imprisonment and labor abuses spanning 2007 to 2024. The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has now opened a criminal investigation.
Graphic claims from four Jane Does
We reported earlier that the lawsuit, filed in L.A. Superior Court on May 6, details strikingly similar stories. Jane Doe 1, employed from January 2023 until quitting last February, says Robinson cornered her when other staff were off duty, “roughly penetrate[d] her vagina with his fingers” and “enjoyed ejaculating in her vagina without using a condom,” despite her protests. Jane Doe 2 recounts at least 23 assaults while on staff from 2014 to 2020, including being forced to perform oral sex and then raped. Jane Doe 3, hired in 2012, claims Robinson would order her to lie face‑down on a towel before assaulting her from behind, while Jane Doe 4, a housekeeper since 2006 who later served as Robinson’s wife Frances Gladney’s assistant—says she, too, was raped.
Accusations against Frances Gladney
All four plaintiffs name Gladney as a co‑defendant, alleging she cultivated a hostile workplace and ignored prior misconduct. Attorney John Harris declared at a press conference, “We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped.” Co‑counsel Herbert Hayden added that Gladney leveraged the women’s financial dependence: “She used their status as well as our clients’ reliance on their living wage in order to keep them in check.”
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Robinson’s response and legal stance
In response to the allegation, Robinson told the Daily Mail, “I am appalled … I can’t speak about this right now.” His attorney Christopher Frost noted that the police inquiry was triggered only after the civil filing: “We welcome that investigation … we feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong.”
What happens next?
The LASD called the case “in the early stages” and offered no timeline. If charges follow, Robinson, long celebrated for hits like “Tracks of My Tears,” could see his public legacy collide head‑on with a criminal courtroom.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Smokey Robinson Issues Response After Being Accused of Rape in $50 Million Lawsuit
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