Will Smith sued by violinist claiming sexual harassment and wrongful termination
Brian King Joseph, who played on Smith's "Based on a True Story" tour, has accused the actor following a "sequences of events" that took place during the tour's stop at Las Vegas.
Actor and musician Will Smith is facing a lawsuit filed by violinist Brian King Joseph. Joseph has accused Smith of sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and retaliation during Smith’s “Based on a True Story” tour which Joseph was a part of.
Joseph, who rose to fame as a America’s Got Talent contestant, was hired for Smith’s concerts in 2024. Now, he is suing Smith and his company, Treyball Studios Management, for alleged misconduct connected to an incident that took place in March 2025 during the tour’s Las Vegas stop.
According to a civil complaint filed in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday, Joseph said he returned to his Las Vegas hotel room at 11 p.m., which was booked by Smith’s company, to find it was “unlawfully entered” by an “unknown person.”
A handwritten note was left behind, Joseph said. It read, “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us, Stone F.” The note was left behind with other items that allegedly include “wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another individual’s name, an earring, and hospital discharge paperwork belonging to a person” unknown to Joseph, the lawsuit states.
Joseph said he reported the incident to hotel security, local police, and tour management. The musician claims he was accused of fabricating the story and was “shamed” for reporting the incident. He was subsequently fired from the tour, with management telling him the tour was “moving in a different direction.” Another violinist was promptly hired in his place, said claiming that he was fired as a retaliation to reporting of the trespassing incident.
In the lawsuit, Joseph claims that tour management had suspiciously lost his bag, which included his room key. Joseph called these a “sequences of events” which, paired with the nature of the hotel intrusion, “all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident.”
The lawsuit also claims that Smith, a Philadelphia native, was “grooming and priming” the violinist for “further sexual exploitation.”
Before the alleged incident, Joseph said in the filing that he and Smith had developed a close relationship while working together on Smith’s latest album and concert tour.
“You and I have such a special connection that I don’t have with anyone else,” Joseph claims Smith said to him.
Joseph is seeking compensation for personal and financial damages. He claims he made significant financial investments for the tour, and now suffers from major physiological damage and PTSD.
Smith’s attorney, Allen B. Grodsky, denied all claims, calling the allegations “false” and “baseless.”
“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,” Grodsky said to People in a statement on Thursday.