Smokey Robinson faces police probe after four former employees allege assault

Last Updated: May 16, 2025By

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Smokey Robinson is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after he was accused of sexual assault by four anonymous former employees. 

On Thursday, the sheriff’s department confirmed that it has opened an investigation into the allegations made against the 85-year-old singer in a lawsuit filed last Tuesday. 

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau is actively investigating criminal allegations involving William Robinson aka ‘Smokey Robinson.’ The investigation is in the early stages, and we have no further comment,” a representative for the LASD said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. 

Robinson’s lawyer, Christopher Frost, responded in a statement to Fox News Digital, writing, “We are aware that a police report has now been filed by the Plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit. It is clear to us what is happening here. Plaintiffs filed a police report only after they filed a $50 million lawsuit. “

SMOKEY ROBINSON ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT BY FORMER HOUSEKEEPERS IN $50M LAWSUIT

smokey robinson speaking at podium

Smokey Robinson is under investigation by the Los Angeles Country Sheriff’s Department after he was accused of sexual assault.  (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

He continued, “This means only that the police are now required to investigate. We welcome that investigation, which involves Plaintiffs who continue to hide their identities, because exposure to the truth is a powerful thing.”

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“We feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong, and that this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create,” Frost added. 

“The record will ultimately demonstrate that this is nothing more than a manufactured lawsuit intended to tarnish the good names of Smokey and Frances Robinson, for no other reason than unadulterated avarice.” 

Robinson was accused of assaulting and raping four former housekeepers who worked at his Chatsworth home between 2006 and 2024, according to the lawsuit. The accusers are seeking $50 million in damages.

Smokey Robinson performing

Robinson’s lawyer dismisses the claims as unfounded. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

In addition to the allegations against Robinson, his wife Frances has been under fire for allegedly perpetuating a toxic work environment. 

The accusers claimed Frances “failed to take the appropriate corrective action to prevent Defendant Smokey Robinson’s deviant misconduct” despite having “full knowledge of his prior acts of sexual misconduct, having settled cases with other women that suffered and experienced similar sexual assaults perpetuated by him.”

According to the lawsuit, one of the four accusers, Jane Doe 1 worked for the Motown legend from January 2023 through February 2024 but was forced to resign due to Robinson’s “repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment against her.”

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Smokey Robinson performing in 1980

Robinson was accused of assaulting and raping four former housekeepers who worked at his Chatsworth home between 2006 and 2024, according to the lawsuit. The accusers are seeking $50 million in damages. (Photo by Leni Sinclair/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

She claimed Robinson sexually assaulted her “at least 7 times” while she was employed by the family. She was unwilling to report the incidents due to “her fear of losing her livelihood, familial reprisal, public embarrassment, shame… the possible adverse effect on her immigration status…”

“Plaintiffs were severely harmed and humiliated by Defendant Smokey Robinson’s conduct,” the women claimed in their lawsuit. 

In addition to sexual battery and assault, the four women sued for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, gender violence and a number of labor code violations.

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Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright and Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report. 


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