Motown legend Smokey Robinson is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from four former housekeepers who allege that the soul singer repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them.
A lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles court claims the 85-year-old forced himself on the women multiple times over the course of several years, often when his wife was not present.
One of the plaintiffs alleges the Tracks of My Tears singer would summon her to his bedroom at his Los Angeles-area home, where he would appear wearing only his underwear.
He would then sexually assault her, despite her protestations, with the suit claiming there were seven such attacks between March 2023 and her resignation in February 2024.
Another former housekeeper claims she was assaulted more than 20 times over a four-year period. A third alleges in the suit that she was “sexually harassed, sexually assaulted and raped” during her 12-year employment, which lasted until 2024.
The fourth woman says the singer began assaulting her in 2007 while they were at his home in Las Vegas.
The women are unnamed in the lawsuit, which is common in cases involving allegations of sexual assault.
The suit, seeking at least $50 million in damages, states that none of the women reported the assaults at the time due to fear of being disbelieved or publicly attacked, given Robinson’s celebrity status.
Robinson’s wife, Frances, is also named in the suit for allegedly fostering a hostile work environment and ignoring her husband’s conduct. When contacted, she responded to AFP, saying, “I’m as shocked as you are,” but declined to give further comment.
Robinson was a founding member of The Miracles, a Detroit-based group that rose to prominence in the 1950s. The group achieved numerous chart successes, including the hit The Tears of a Clown in 1967.
