Summary:
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A lawsuit accuses Will Smith of wrongful termination and sexual harassment during his 2025 music tour. Allegations denied by Smith’s legal team.
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Violinist Brian King Joseph claims Smith crossed professional boundaries, leading to a traumatic incident in Las Vegas. Lawsuit seeks damages.
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Smith’s legal team denies allegations, stating they are false and baseless. The case remains a civil matter with no criminal charges.
A new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles is pulling Will Smith back into the legal spotlight, this time over allegations tied to his recent music tour.
Professional violinist Brian King Joseph filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint in California Superior Court on Dec. 30, accusing Smith and his company, Treyball Studios Management Inc., of wrongful termination following what he describes as a disturbing and traumatic incident while on tour.
The complaint stems from Smith’s Based on a True Story: 2025 global tour, which Joseph joined in late 2024. According to court filings first reported by People, Joseph alleges that Smith and his team cultivated a professional relationship that crossed boundaries, ultimately placing him in an unsafe situation during a March 2025 tour stop in Las Vegas.
According to the complaint, Joseph alleges that he returned to his Las Vegas hotel room during the tour and discovered signs that someone had entered without forced entry. The filing says he found a handwritten note reading, “Brian, I’ll be back… just us,” along with personal items he says did not belong to him. The lawsuit characterizes the discovery as what Joseph perceived to be a “sexual threat of violence.”
Joseph reported the incident to hotel staff, local authorities through a non-emergency line, and Smith’s tour management. He alleges that instead of receiving support, he was later reprimanded, “shamed,” and ultimately fired from the tour. Another violinist was reportedly hired to replace him shortly afterward.
Joseph says the termination caused severe emotional distress, economic loss, and long-term reputational harm, including a diagnosis of PTSD.
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Smith’s legal team has categorically denied the allegations. In a statement to People, attorney Allen B. Grodsky said the claims are “false, baseless, and reckless,” adding that Smith intends to “use all legal means available” to contest the lawsuit and clear his name.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the incident, and the case remains a civil matter.
Joseph is not a fringe figure in the music world. The Washington, D.C., native rose to national attention as a top-three finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2018 and has since built a following for blending classical violin with pop and electronic performance styles. His social media posts from December 2024 show him celebrating his first nights touring with Smith.
The lawsuit also arrives amid heightened scrutiny of Smith and his inner circle. Just weeks earlier, a former associate filed a separate $3 million lawsuit involving Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, a claim the family has publicly dismissed as opportunistic.
The case is still in its early stages, and no trial date has been set. Smith continues to maintain his innocence, while Joseph is seeking damages for emotional distress, lost income, and retaliation.
