Smokey Robinson files countersuit against sexual assault accusers for defamation and elder abuse

Smokey Robinson has filed a countersuit claim for $500million against those who have accused him of sexual assault.

The 85-year-old singer and ex-Motown Records executive faced legal action earlier this month from four former housekeepers. All going as “Jane Doe”, they accused him of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, gender violence and creating a hostile work environment.

His wife, Frances Robinson, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and the alleged incidents spanned from 2007 to April 2024. The women are suing Robinson for a total of $50million (£37.5million) in damages.

Now, Robinson has filed a counterclaim against the four women and claimed that they have “fabricated” instances of sexual assault in a bid to extort money from him and his wife.

Rolling Stone highlights that the complaint from the music mogul accuses the women of conspiring to make “slanderous statements” against him. It also outlines that he and his wife allegedly treated the former housekeepers like “extended family” during their employment. This, he says, included providing money for dental work, clothing, vacations, concert tickets, and a car.

According to RS and Consequence, the countersuit reads: “The depths of plaintiffs’ avarice and greed knows no bounds. 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 (everything over and above what they were freely given) and wrongfully destroy the Robinsons’ well-built reputations.”

Robinson and his wife have also made a notion to have the four women refile their claims under their legal names. This, they claim is because “the allegations in the complaint are so far removed from the truth that the Robinsons cannot identify which Doe is whom.”

In the original complaint, the plaintiffs claimed that they were afraid to report Robinson to the police because they thought it would lead to them losing their jobs and potentially sparking a reprisal against themselves and their families.

They also claim that they “suffered and continue to suffer economic damages, as well as severe emotional and physical harm, humiliation, distress, embarrassment, and anxiety as a result of Robinson’s conduct”.

This is a developing story.

The post Smokey Robinson files countersuit against sexual assault accusers for defamation and elder abuse appeared first on NME.