Smokey Robinson sues former housekeepers for defamation over rape allegations
Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson filed the counterclaim on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the women and their lawyers, whose allegations, they say, were 'fabricated in an extortionate scheme'.
The filing is a fast and forceful legal and public pushback from the 85-year-old Motown music luminary in response to the women's May 6 lawsuit and a May 15 announcement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that its Special Victims Bureau is 'actively investigating criminal allegations' against Robinson.
The women are seeking at least 50 million dollars, alleging Smokey Robinson repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted them in his home when they worked for him between 2007 and 2024.
They said Frances Robinson, a co-defendant, enabled him and created an abusive workplace.
The counterclaim opens with friendly text messages from the women to contradict their claims against Robinson, whose songs, including Tears Of A Clown and The Tracks Of My Tears, established him among the biggest hitmakers of the 1960s.
The filing says the women 'stayed with the Robinsons year after year', holidayed with them, celebrated holidays with them, exchanged gifts with them, asked for tickets to his concerts, and sought and received help from them including money for dental surgery, financial support for a disabled family member, and 'even a car'.
The filing — which includes photos from the holidays and gatherings as exhibits — says that despite the couple's generosity, the women 'secretly harboured resentment for the Robinsons and sought to enrich themselves through the Robinsons' wealth'.
'Unfortunately, the depths of Plaintiffs' avarice and greed know no bounds,' the counterclaim says.
'During the very time that the Robinsons were being extraordinarily generous with Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs were concocting an extortionate plan to take everything from the Robinsons.'
John Harris and Herbert Hayden, attorneys for the former housekeepers, said in a statement that the defamation suit 'is nothing more than an attempt to silence and intimidate the survivors of Mr. Robinson's sexual battery and assault. It is a baseless and vindictive legal manoeuvre designed to re-victimise, shift blame and discourage others from coming forward.'
The lawyers said they intend to get the Robinsons' lawsuit thrown out by invoking California's laws against using the courts to silence and intimidate people who sue.
The four women, whose names are withheld in their lawsuit, each allege that Robinson would wait until they were alone with him in his Los Angeles house and then sexually assault and rape them.
One woman said she was assaulted at least 20 times while working for Robinson from 2012 until 2024. Another said she worked for him from 2014 until 2020 and was assaulted at least 23 times.
The Sheriff's Department would give no details on its investigation beyond confirming its existence.
Robinson, who was a central figure in the Motown Records machine with his group the Miracles and as a solo artist, is a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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The Courier
15 hours ago
- The Courier
‘Call me Mr Tea' — The people scalded by Perthshire's great tea scandal
Picture the scene: Paris. March 14, 2015. The great and good of the world's tea industry gather for a lavish party, a celebration of their achievements over the past 12 months. This night at the Salon de Thé awards is a special one for Scotland, as Perthshire's own Wee Tea Plantation scores a coveted gold award. The company's Dalreoch white tea has been crowned the best tea in the world. The announcement sparks a media buzz. The plantation's Tam O'Braan tells BBC Five Live presented Nicky Campbell that morning he cannot attend the ceremony as his wife is about to give birth to twins. But he says he is sending a colleague to read out the speech he penned. 'I suppose you could call me Mr Tea after winning such a major award,' he told reporters. Coupled with a silver gong from the Tea Exchange in London, it really is a remarkable achievement for a Scottish business – particularly one set up just over six months earlier. Except the awards ceremony never happened. O'Braan – known by prosecutors as Thomas Robinson – made it up to boost sales and win contracts. The fake awards were part of a wider deception that hoodwinked not only the owners of some of the country's best known hotels but also wholesalers, journalists, landowners and businesses. Robinson was this week convicted of an elaborate £550k fraud, taking in five-star hoteliers and genuine tea growers. At his trial, he distanced himself from the Salon de Thé prize claiming it was gourmet tea firm Mariage Freres' award. But he said he remembered seeing some kind of gold medallion. 'I didn't get to keep it,' he said. 'But it must have had some standing because the buyers from Fortnum and Mason wanted to display it in their store.' Asked if the whole thing was made up, he said: 'I'm taking it on trust that the award does exist.' The Courier was also caught up in Robinson's web of lies. In February 2017, we reported how thieves had stolen tea leaves from his Dalreoch farm. The report was based on information provided to us by the company, while Robinson was recovering from a heart attack we were told. The theft was never reported to Police Scotland and it emerged during the trial the thefts may have been faked ahead of a council inspection of the land. Here we look at just a handful of others who were caught out by Robinson's great tea blag. In hindsight, alarm bells should have been ringing for London tea seller Alistair Rea, when Robinson – his best customer – asked him to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The document was purportedly a legally binding contract demanding Mr Rea's silence on all correspondence between him and Robinson. Robinson first contacted sole-trader Mr Rea in August 2015, when his business What-Cha, selling top end tea from around the world, was starting out on eBay. He asked how degradable his loose leaf black tea was, before putting in an order for 30kg. He asked for it to be delivered to a PO address in Glasgow's Bath Street. Over a period of nearly three-and-a-half years, Robinson ordered about 700kg of loose leaf tea from as far afield as China, Malawi and Sri Lanka, often at thousands of pounds a time. He often asked about the produce and requested photos to see if they were 'leafy enough'. Mr Rea, 36, said he had never before been asked by a customer to sign a confidentiality agreement. 'I agreed to sign it to keep the business relationship going,' he said. The paper was sent from Robinson – not from a lawyer – in October 2015, not long after he began buying from What-Cha. In February 2016, Robinson visited Mr Rea's business premises – a spare room at his Islington home – to pick up more tea. Robinson explained to the tea vendor he had been out of action for a while following a heart attack and would making big orders to help catch up with customers. Mr Rea did not know Robinson had a tea plantation but suspected he had been selling on his tea leaves. Peter Pejacsevich, a forester and farmer who owns 680 acres of land on the banks of Loch Tummel, said his interest was piqued when reading a news article about Scottish tea plantations in 2016. One of the people mentioned in the piece was Perthshire's Tam O'Braan whose tea, it stated, was being sold by Fortnum and Mason. Mr Pejacsevich, 70, decided to investigate further, with the idea of growing tea plants on his own land. By email, he contacted Robinson, who he knew only as O'Braan, before meeting up at his Amulree site. There, he could see about 100 or so plants, about a metre high, despite Robinson's claims he had a field of tens of thousands of plants near his home. 'I can't recall if he said if these were grown on the farm but the implication was that they were grown there,' said Mr Pejacsevich. The London-based landowner noticed Robinson had a slight limp, which he told him was 'the result of military action'. Mr Pejacsevich struck a deal to buy 1,200 plants at £15,000. Robinson was given a key and granted access to the farmer's land at Loch Tummel. He told Mr Pejacsevich a group of agricultural students had been employed to harvest the leaves. These so-called 'woofers' – a term for people who work for rural firms in exchange for bed and board – were said to have stayed at the farm with Robinson, although there was no evidence they ever existed. Some time later, Mr Pejacsevich was shown a tea menu from the Balmoral Hotel. It offered jasmine green tea 'grown on the banks of Loch Tummel'. Mr Pejacsevich said there had been no other teas growing near the loch and stressed he had not given Robinson permission to sell on tea from his plantation. In court, Robinson blamed a man called 'Billy' for looking after Mr Pejacsevich's crops. Antiques dealer and farmer Henry Baggott was – initially at least – an enthusiastic supporter. 'It was interesting to hear someone was growing tea in Scotland and doing it so well,' he said. 'It was exciting that someone was championing this here in Scotland.' He got in touch with Robinson – or O'Braan as he knew him – in 2015 and went to visit his farm. There he saw a few hundred plants. 'From what I saw, they seemed to be pretty healthy but it was all new to me at that stage.' During their talks, Robinson told Mr Baggott he had been in the army, 'in a regiment like the Paras.' 'If someone tells you they had been in the army, you believe them,' he said. After tests on his own soil at his wife's family farm near Castle Douglas, Baggott agreed to buy 700 plants. 'Tam came with a team from the plantation. 'There was very little guidance from Tam – it was very much dig a hole, pop in a plant and away we go. 'At the time, we thought this was great. 'It was only subsequently we looked closer and could see they had been badly planted and were in poor quality. They soon started dying.' In the first year, between 25-to-30% of the plants were lost. After about seven years, he only managed to harvest about 100 grammes of tea. Mr Baggott said Tam 'was a very hard man to get hold of after we initially planted his plants.'
NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Smokey Robinson was accused of sex assault in 2015, but officials had insufficient evidence for charges, DA says
LOS ANGELES — A sexual assault allegation was made against Motown legend Smokey Robinson in 2015, but no charges were filed because of inasufficient evidence, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. The decade-old allegation, which was presented to the prosecutor's office by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, is not connected to a recent civil suit that accuses Robinson of sexual assault, attorneys for the plaintiffs in that matter said. Robinson, 85, has not been charged with any crime and has denied any misconduct. The celebrity news website TMZ was first to report the 2015 investigation Friday. 'We discovered that our office was presented with a sexual assault allegation against Mr. Robinson in 2015 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department,' the district attorney's office said in a statement Friday. 'In that matter, a declination of charges was made based on insufficient evidence,' the district attorney's office said. 'We are not able to provide further information at this time because of an ongoing law enforcement investigation.' The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department confirmed that it conducted an investigation and that no charges were ever filed. "Due to the confidential nature of the investigation, we cannot provide more information," th sheriff's department said in a statement Friday. Earlier this month, Robinson was sued by four former housekeepers who have accused the "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" singer of sexual assault. The suit, which seeks at least $50 million, also names Robinson's wife and accused her of knowing about the allegations. Robinson has denied the claims, and this week countersued the four women and their attorneys, alleging defamation and seeking at least $500 million. Attorney Christopher Frost, who is representing Robinson and his wife, said his client maintains his innocence. "One unfortunate aspect of celebrity is that it is not uncommon to be the target of spurious and unsubstantiated allegations," Frost said. "Mr. Robinson looks forward to the conclusion of the current investigation, and has no doubt that a similar determination will be reached here." Attorneys for the women suing Robinson said Friday that the declination of the criminal case in 2015 only means there was a lack of evidence. The person who made the allegation in 2015 is not any of the four women who are suing Robinson, according to the attorneys, John Harris and Herbert Hayden. "The statement released by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirms that charges were not filed against Mr. Robinson due to insufficient evidence — not because the claims lacked merit," Harris and Hayden said. "This underscores the significant challenges victims face when reporting incidents of sexual assault, particularly when the alleged perpetrator is a powerful and well-known figure," they said. On May 15, , citing a law enforcement source that it did not name. Robinson is an iconic American soul singer who has had a star-studded career spanning more than 70 years. The recording, producing and songwriting legend was a pioneer for Motown Records, founding the vocal group the Miracles in the 1950s and later releasing albums as a solo artist and working as a record executive for the label. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Bully Scots cop subjected police officer ex to terrifying two-day ordeal after she dumped him
He also revealed his warped belief to her family during the two-day rampage 'SHOW HIM THE DOOR' Bully Scots cop subjected police officer ex to terrifying two-day ordeal after she dumped him Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BULLY cop is facing the sack for subjecting his police officer ex to a terrifying two-day ordeal when she dumped him. Constable Neil Robinson, 47, bombarded his former flame, a serving officer, with hundreds of messages and voicemails demanding to know where she was. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 He has been suspended since the allegations came to light in November 2023 Credit: Alamy Edinburgh Sheriff Court was shown ring door bell footage of Robinson driving around the city looking for the terrified cop while she hid from him. The disgraced PC has been suspended since the allegations came to light in November 2023 and has trousered over £75k while the case trundled through court. He was convicted under Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm laws on Tuesday and only now will Police Scotland disciplinary procedures kick in - meaning he remains on the payroll. When new chief constable Jo Farrell took over last year, she agreed with her predecessor Iain Livingstone that the force was 'institutionally racist, sexist and discriminatory.' A source said: 'He's a bully and thinks because he's a man, he can do what he wants. 'Robinson should be nowhere near the public, and definitely nowhere near any females. "If Police Scotland is serious about rooting out misogyny and sexism in their ranks, he should be shown the door now." The court heard that Robinson and his victim had been together for a number of years but split a month before the offences were committed. On November 27 and 28, he began subjecting his ex to a torrent of phone messages and calls, described by court papers as 'menacing' in nature. He was found guilty of sending her numerous messages, repeated phonecalls and voicemails 'that were of a menacing nature' and threatening to attend at the address of a pal and share information about her sexuality without her consent. Cop SACKED for harvesting secret info about Nicola Bulley from police database The voicemails included him demanding 'tell me where you are' and 'I'm going to come and find you - I know where you are.' Evidence led at the trial revealed he was obsessed that she was having an affair with a woman even though there was no truth in that. He also revealed his warped belief to her family during the two-day rampage. The frightened woman eventually reported him to police and he was arrested. Robinson initially faced accusations he had threatened to kill himself and threatened to report her missing to police but he was found not guilty of those charges. He was sentenced to a 100-hour community payback order and banned from contacting his victim for two years. Chief Superintendent Helen Harrison, Head of the Police Scotland Professional Standards Department, said: 'Robinson's actions go against everything Police Scotland stands for. 'Our thoughts are with the victim in this case and I hope this conviction provides them with some measure of closure. 'We understand how difficult it can be to report these kinds of offences, particularly when the perpetrator is a police officer. 'We want the public to be reassured that all reports are thoroughly investigated, no matter when the offending took place or who is involved. 'The vast majority of officers and staff conduct themselves in line with our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights. 'All officers are bound by our Standards of Professional Behaviour, which apply on and off duty. 'Any instance where an officer fails to uphold our standards will be investigated and appropriate action taken. 'This matter will now be progressed in terms of the Police Service of Scotland (Conduct) Regulations 2014.' It's understood Robinson remains suspended.
