Will Smith’s lawyers say a judge should throw out a “farce of a lawsuit” brought by an electric violinist who performed on the star’s Based on a True Story tour last year.
The Feb. 20 motion, obtained by Billboard, is Smith’s first court filing responding to sexual harassment and retaliation claims leveled against him by violinist Brian King Joseph in December. King, who came in third place on season 13 of America’s Got Talent, says he was wrongly fired from Smith’s international tour after complaining that somebody had broken into his hotel room and left sexually suggestive materials.
“Brian King Joseph is using the California court system to maliciously ensnare [Will Smith] in a frivolous lawsuit,” reads the motion, filed by Smith’s attorneys at the firm Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani. “The false and salacious allegations in plaintiff’s complaint undoubtedly make for tabloid fodder but, like most tabloid stories, they are untrue, inflammatory, legally baseless, and are nothing but an attempted money grab.”
Smith denies ever sexually harassing Joseph. As Joseph’s lawsuit acknowledges, it’s not known who it was that broke into his Las Vegas hotel room and left a bottle of HIV medication, an earring and a note – and Smith says it absolutely wasn’t him or anybody on his team.
Joseph’s case attempts to connect Smith to the hotel room incident by claiming that the actor and singer was “grooming” him beforehand. But Smith says there’s no truth to this “absurd conclusion” either, noting that he was never even alone with Joseph.
According to Smith, the real reason Joseph had to leave the Based on a True Story tour was because he often arrived late for rehearsals, behaved erratically and made other performers feel uncomfortable.
“Plaintiff was never promised a regular position in the band,” writes Smith’s lawyers. “Ultimately, it was determined that plaintiff was not a good fit for the band and he was not invited to perform at further shows.”
Ultimately, Smith argues in the motion that a Los Angeles judge should dismiss the lawsuit permanently because Joseph has not pled any valid facts to prop up his claims.
Reached for comment on Smith’s arguments on Friday (Feb. 27), Joseph’s attorney Jonathan J. Delshad told Billboard, “A jury’s ultimate determination matters more to us than Mr. Smith’s opinion of this case.”
“The defense’s ‘press-release rhetoric’ that they added to the brief is not evidence,” said Delshad. “We will oppose the motions and present the facts in court. When the case is complete, the gap between the rhetoric and the factual record will be obvious.”
Smith’s dismissal motion is set to be considered by a judge at a hearing in April.
