Smokey Robinson is under criminal investigation for sexual assault after three women filed police reports on May 9 in Los Angeles County.
The special victims’ unit of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department were in the early stages of the investigation as of Thursday, TheWrap has learned. The criminal probe followed a $50 million lawsuit against the music industry legend and his wife Frances Gladney filed May 5 by four former employees claiming sexual battery and assault.
“We are pleased to learn that the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. has opened a criminal investigation into our clients’ claims of sexual assault against Smokey Robinson,” attorneys John Harris and Herbert Hayden said in a statement to TheWrap. “Our clients intend to fully cooperate with LASD’s ongoing investigation in the pursuit of seeking justice for themselves and others that may have been similarly assaulted by him.”
Robinson’s attorney told TheWrap, “We welcome that investigation, which involves Plaintiffs who continue to hide their identities, because exposure to the truth is a powerful thing. We feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong, and that this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create. The record will ultimately demonstrate that this is nothing more than a manufactured lawsuit intended to tarnish the good names of Smokey and Frances Robinson, for no other reason than unadulterated avarice.”
Responding to the allegations found within the lawsuit last week, Robinson and Gladney’s attorney Christopher Frost said the effort was “an ugly method of trying to extract money from an 85-year-old American icon.”
“We ask anyone following this case to reserve judgment as the evidence comes to light and all the actual facts of the case unfold,” he said. “We will be asking the Court to dismiss the lawsuit.”
The first Jane Doe in the lawsuit stated that she started working for the Robinsons as their housekeeper at their Chatsworth home from Jan. 3, 2023 to February 2024, and was forced to resign after Smokey’s repeated sexual assaults and sexual harassment against her.
The joint lawsuit also alleges sexual battery, assault, fostering a hostile work environment, false imprisonment and gender violence.
The R&B legend is known for his time fronting the Motown group The Miracles, and for penning hits for other artists, including “My Girl” for “The Temptations.”
TMZ first reported the news of the criminal investigation.