Will Smith and his company are facing allegations of sexual harassment by former “America’s Got Talent” contestant Brian King Joseph, who says he was subjected to “predatory behavior” during the Oscar winner’s 2025 tour.
Joseph, a professional violinist, is also suing Smith and Treyball Studios Management for retaliation and wrongful termination and claims he’s suffered PTSD as well as economic loss, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles and obtained Thursday by Us Weekly. He wants a jury to determine damages.
The filing claims that Joseph joined the “Fresh Prince” alum’s tour for his “Based on a True Story” album. It was during the tour that Joseph says someone “unlawfully” entered his hotel room, where he discovered a note addressed to him and signed by “Stone F.”
“Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us,” the note promised, concluding with a drawing of a heart.
Joseph believed this “unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts” with him, in part because he also discovered wipes, a beer bottle, a bottle of HIV medication belonging to someone else and someone else’s hospital discharge paperwork.
Joseph — who appeared on five “AGT” episodes between 2018 and 2019 and in 2020 competed on an episode of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” — claims he was fired within days of reporting the incident to hotel security and tour management. He insists tour management would have had “access” to the room because Joseph lost his luggage, which contained the room key.
Joseph claims the “Hitch” star was “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation” since their November 2024 meeting, after which they “began spending additional time alone” together ahead of the tour.
Smith’s lawyer Allen B. Grodsky “categorically denied” the claims in a statement to People, dubbing them “false, baseless, and reckless.”
“We will use all legal means available to address these claims and to ensure that the truth is brought to light,” said Grodsky.
The Daily News has reached out to Grodsky and representatives for Smith.
The allegations come just under a month after his alleged former friend Bilal Salaam filed a $3 million lawsuit accusing Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, of saying he’d “catch a bullet” if he kept sharing the latter’s “personal business.”
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