Just when Will Smith appeared to be moving past controversy, a bombshell new lawsuit has accused him of harassment and “deliberately grooming” a fellow musician.
According to court documents obtained by multiple media outlets on Thursday, January 1, the allegations were brought forward by professional violinist Brian King Joseph.
The alleged incident reportedly occurred last year while Joseph was hired to join the 57-year-old actor and rapper on his Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour.
Highlights
- Violinist Brian King Joseph filed a lawsuit against Will Smith detailing alleged incidents of harassment and wrongful termination.
- The lawsuit alleges a “traumatic” hotel room intrusion and claims of “grooming” that reportedly occurred last year.
- The legal battle comes amid mounting scrutiny on the Smith family, following a separate $3 million lawsuit filed against Jada Pinkett Smith by a former associate.
Reacting to the lawsuit’s details, one social media user remarked, “Considering what he did to Chris Rock on national television, I wouldn't be surprised if this was true.”
Violinist Brian King Joseph has allegedly accused Will Smith of "s*xual" harassment and wrongful termination in a lawsuit filed just before the New Year
Image credits: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Joseph filed the lawsuit against Smith and his associates, including Treyball Studios Management, Inc., on December 30, 2025.
The complaint was submitted to the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, naming both the actor and his company as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, in March 2025, while staying at a hotel in Las Vegas during Will’s Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour, Joseph alleges that he experienced an unlawful intrusion into his hotel room.
Image credits: Lionel Hahn/Getty Images
He claims that his bag, which contained his hotel room key, went missing for several hours before being located and returned by hotel management.
Joseph further alleged that members of hotel management were the “only individuals with access to [his] room.”
Moreover, shortly after recovering his missing bag, Brian returned to his room and discovered that an unknown individual had unlawfully entered and left behind items, including a bottle of HIV medication bearing another person’s name and a highly suggestive note.
According to court documents, the note read, “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,” which Joseph interpreted as a warning that “an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in s*xual acts” with him.
Joseph reported the matter to hotel security and tour management.
The “traumatic” incident as described in Joseph’s lawsuit allegedly took place in March last year while he was on Smith’s Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour
Image credits: Robin L Marshall/Getty Images
However, a member of the management team allegedly “shamed” him over the incident and terminated his contract, suggesting that he had fabricated the claims.
The lawsuit further alleges that Smith was "deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further s*xual exploitation.”
Joseph claimed that their relationship “grew even closer” after the Men in Black star offered him the opportunity to play on several tracks from his upcoming album.
Image credits: BrianJosephViolin
The two reportedly began spending more time alone together, and Smith allegedly told the violinist that they shared a “special connection” unlike any he had with anyone else.
According to the complaint, “Smith and Plaintiff began spending additional time alone, with Smith even telling Plaintiff that ‘You and I have such a special connection, that I don’t have with anyone else,’ and other similar expressions indicating his closeness to Plaintiff.”
The former America’s Got Talent alum further claimed, “Rather than being protected against further a**ault, and for attempting to understanding Plaintiff’s complaint, Plaintiff was shamed by Defendant and told that he was being terminated.”
“The facts strongly suggest that Defendant [Will Smith] was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further s*xual exploitation,” the lawsuit states
Image credits: Sony Pictures
"When Plaintiff requested… further reasoning, Tim Miller, acting on behalf of Defendants, redirected the blame for the termination onto Plaintiff, replying, ‘I don’t know, you tell me, because everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie.’”
Miller allegedly added, “Nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up. So, tell me, why did you lie and make this up?"
Image credits: briankingjoseph
Following what the lawsuit describes as a “traumatic series of events,” Joseph was replaced, with the defendants allegedly hiring another violinist to assume the same position on the tour.
“This hiring strongly suggested that Defendant's stated reason for the termination was pretextual."
“The sequence of events, Smith’s prior statements to Plaintiff, and the circumstances of the hotel intrusion all point to a pattern of predatory behavior rather than an isolated incident," the lawsuit continues.
Image credits: briankingjoseph
The filing concludes by emphasizing the “severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages” allegedly sustained by Joseph, adding that, “Plaintiff was also harmed as a result of the stress of losing his job, his health deteriorated causing major physiological damage… and other mental illness as a result of the termination."
The 57-year-old’s alleged legal troubles come amid a separate $3 million lawsuit filed against his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, by a former associate
However, through his attorney, the I Am Legend star has denied all allegations, describing them as "false, baseless and reckless."
His attorney, Allen B. Grodsky, told People, “Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client… 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."
Will’s lawsuit follows a $3 million complaint filed nearly a month earlier, on December 1, against the Oscar winner’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
In that case, former associate Bilaal Salaam (also known as Brother Bilaal) alleged that Jada verbally threatened him and demanded he sign a nondisclosure agreement during a private gathering at a movie theater in September 2021.
Image credits: gotknack4it
However, an entertainment industry source told People, “[Will and Jada] are really mad and say it’s a lot of cr*p,” calling Salaam “an opportunistic person out to exploit them.”
According to the insider, the couple views the complaint "as a money ploy to get what they can out of them.”
Salaam is seeking financial damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming the alleged ordeal caused him severe financial loss, health issues, and reputational harm.
“Jada Smith gets in an ‘entanglement’ and Will Smith gets into bigger trouble,” one netizen wrote as the couple’s legal woes appeared to deepen
