R&B icon Smokey Robinson said he is “appalled” by rape allegations made against him by four housekeepers in a $50 million lawsuit.
The 85-year-old Motown legend and his wife Frances Gladney, 73, are both named in a lawsuit accusing him of sexual battery and rape.
“I am appalled. I can’t speak about this right now,” the singer/songwriter said in a phone call with the Daily Mail on Wednesday, May 7.
The lawsuit was filed in California by four Hispanic housekeepers who allege the “Tracks of My Tears” singer cornered them in bedrooms without cameras in his Los Angeles mansion.
The assaults allegedly took place between 2007 and 2024. The women also accused Robinson and his wife of labor violations, creating a hostile workplace, and working them for long hours with little pay.
Robinson’s attorney, Christopher Frost, confirmed in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that “the evidence will show that this is simply an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon.”
Frost continued: “Through this process we have seen the bizarre theatrics of yesterday’s news conference, as the plaintiffs’ attorneys outlined vile, false allegations against Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, trying to enlist the public as an unwitting participant in the media circus they are trying to create.”
“We're seeking damages of $50 million.”
Four women who worked as Smokey Robinson’s housekeepers say they didn’t report the alleged assaults out of fear it would affect their immigration status — and their lawyer calls 85-year-old Smokey Robinson a “serial and sick r*apist” who… pic.twitter.com/T5JdegsUZi
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) May 7, 2025
The lawsuit claims Robinson allegedly used “physical barriers, force, threats of force,” and other methods to keep the women from leaving the house during the alleged assaults.
“We believe that Mr. Robinson is a serial and sick rapist, and must be stopped,” the women’s attorney John Harris said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The housekeepers, who cleaned the home separately over the years, reportedly quit as a result of the alleged assaults, according to the lawsuit.
