Smokey Robinson Hits Back With $500M Defamation Suit Against 'Fabricated' Rape Claims By Ex-Employees

Yahoo

28-05-2025

In a $500 million defamation and elder abuse action of their own, Smokey Robinson and his wife are now going after the four former employees who have accused the Motown legend of rape in a $50 million lawsuit.
'The Robinsons did not abuse, harm or take advantage of plaintiffs; they treated plaintiffs with the utmost kindness and generosity,' a countersuit filed Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court asserts of the Jane Does. 'Unfortunately, the depths of plaintiffs' avarice and greed knows no bounds.'
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Self-described 'living legend' Robinson and his attorney Christopher Frost claim that the women tried at first to get $100 million out of the singer and his spouse for their silence on the 'fabricated' claims. The four supposedly only turned to the courts when they were rebuffed by the Robinsons. Today's countersuit makes note of Robinson's new What The World Needs Now album that came out in late April and the fallout the rape accusations and legal action has had on the performer's career the past month.
Filed back on May 6, the 16-claim civil action alleges that the 85-year-old Robinson individually raped each of the four women several times in his homes in Las Vegas, Chatsworth and Bell Canyon in Ventura County over the years. With description of the 'Cruisin'' singer making sure to take a shower before the attacks and carefully laying a towel on the bed to prevent stains, Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2, Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4's stories are nearly identical.
They all also say that Frances Robinson, who has been married to 'The Tears of a Clown' singer since 2002, knew what her husband was doing and did nothing to stop it. In fact, the women, who the Robinsons termed 'extended family' in their countersuit, insist Frances Robinson also ripped off the housekeepers on their wages and more in a 'hostile work environment.' Since the $50 million rape suit was filed earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has begun its own criminal probe into Robinson, as the cops confirmed on May 15.
Turning the spotlight to a press conference that the four women and their Hayden & Harris lawyers gave on May 6, the same day they filed their civil action, the Robinsons declare now that the plaintiffs forced them to sue back and, in a separate motion, sought to have the initial suit tossed out. 'Because of Plaintiffs' slanderous statements, the Robinsons had no choice but to seek legal relief,' today's filing says. 'Plaintiffs may be able to make slanderous statements in a legal pleading (for now), but they are not entitled to do so in gratuitous, self-serving press conferences.'
Citing a litany of assistance from dental work to cars and more that the Robinsons say they gave the women during the time they worked for the couple, today's countersuit also not so subtly accuses the quartet of having some strategically sticky fingers.
'Shortly after the Plaintiffs left their jobs, Ms. Robinson discovered that several of her financial records (including bank statements) were missing, the 10-claim countersuit says. 'At least one Plaintiff had access to and knew exactly where these records were kept. In that vein, Wednesday's countersuit adds of the women: 'As a result of their roles as household staff, they had particular knowledge of where the Robinsons' valuables were kept, including a hidden safe and gold Krugerrands. That safe and the valuables it contained and several gold Kruggerands were later stolen by someone who knew precisely where they were located. The Robinsons reported the theft to the police.'
Attorneys for the four women who have accused Robinson of rape and more did not respond to request for comment on today's countersuit.
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