{"id":383509,"date":"2026-01-02T12:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/383509\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T12:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:47:08","slug":"will-smith-sued-by-violinist-over-predatory-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/383509\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Smith Sued by Violinist Over \u2018Predatory Behavior\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Superstar Will Smith is being sued by a violinist who has accused the actor and rapper and his management company of sexual harassment, \u201cpredatory behavior,\u201d and wrongful termination.<\/p>\n

Violinist Brian King Joseph filed the lawsuit in a Los Angeles court on Dec. 30 and names Smith and his company, Treyball Studios Management, as defendants.<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit, Joseph, 33, accuses Smith, 57, of \u201cpredatory behavior\u201d while he was part of the band on Smith\u2019s \u201cBased on a True Story\u201d tour last year.<\/p>\n

\"BrianViolinist Brian King Joseph has filed a lawsuit against actor Will Smith. Tommaso Boddi\/Getty Images for Media Access Aw <\/p>\n

Joseph, who came third in America\u2019s Got Talent in 2018, said Smith was \u201cgrooming and priming\u201d him for \u201cfurther sexual exploitation\u201d after they first met in November 2024.<\/p>\n

The violinist was invited to join Smith when the tour kicked off in Las Vegas in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Joseph alleges in the lawsuit that he and Smith \u201cbegan spending additional time alone\u201d before the tour, claiming the Gettin\u2019 Jiggy Wit It hitmaker told him, \u201cYou and I have such a special connection that I don\u2019t have with anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

On tour, the violinist claims he returned to his Las Vegas hotel room to find someone had \u201cunlawfully\u201d entered the suite, which had been booked by Smith\u2019s company. <\/p>\n

\"USSmith’s attorney has denied the allegations. FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Joseph allegedly found a beer bottle, a bottle of HIV medication in someone else\u2019s name, and hospital discharge paperwork belonging to another person.<\/p>\n

There was also allegedly a note in the room that read, \u201cBrian, I\u2019ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,\u201d which the musician believed was a message that \u201can unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts\u201d with him.<\/p>\n

The violinist says that members of Smith\u2019s management team were the \u201conly individuals with access\u201d to his room and that his bag, which included his room key, was lost for several hours before the team returned it to him.<\/p>\n

Joseph said he reported the incident to hotel security and Smith\u2019s tour management, who he said accused him of lying and blamed and \u201cshamed\u201d him for what happened.<\/p>\n

He was fired from the tour days after the incident, with the violinist saying management told him Smith\u2019s tour was \u201cmoving in a different direction.\u201d However, he pointed out that another violinist replaced him on the tour.<\/p>\n

\"BrianThe violinist is suing Smith and his management for wrongful termination and sexual harassment. Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic <\/p>\n

The lawsuit says Joseph suffered from PTSD and economic loss after being fired from the tour and is suing Smith and his management company for retaliation, wrongful termination, and sexual harassment. He has asked for the jury to assess the financial damages he is entitled to.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s attorney has denied the claims. \u201cMr. Joseph\u2019s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless. They are categorically denied, and we will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light,\u201d Allen B. Grodsky said in a statement to the Daily Beast.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s \u201cBased on a True Story\u201d tour ran from June to September 2025 in the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Superstar Will Smith is being sued by a violinist who has accused the actor and rapper and his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[163205,49,48,361,75,9713,8127,341,267,503],"class_list":["post-383509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-brian-king-joseph","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-hollywood","tag-lawsuit","tag-music","tag-tour","tag-will-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}