Smokey Robinson and his spouse, Frances Robinson, have filed a $500 million countersuit in opposition to the 4 ladies who sued him earlier this month accusing the music icon of sexual assault.
Within the cross-complaint, filed on Wednesday by the Robinsons’ lawyer, Christopher Frost, and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Robinson accuses the Jane Does of of defamation, slander, intentional infliction of emotional misery, monetary elder abuse and invasion of privateness, amongst different claims.
“The Robinsons didn’t abuse, hurt, or benefit from Plaintiffs; they handled Plaintiffs with the utmost kindness and generosity,” the go well with mentioned. “Sadly, the depths of Plaintiffs’ avarice and greed is aware of no bounds.”
The cross-complaint claims that the “plaintiffs requested for and accepted assist from the Robinsons, together with a number of 1000’s of {dollars}, financial assist for members of at the least one Plaintiff’s household, garments, dental surgical procedure and even a automotive” through the years. However on the time when “the Robinsons had been being terribly beneficiant,” the go well with mentioned, “plaintiffs had been concocting an extortionate plan to take all the things from the Robinsons and wrongfully destroy the Robinsons’ well-built reputations.”
Robinson’s go well with come about three weeks after the 4 nameless ladies, who labored for him as housekeepers, sued the famed Motown singer and file producer for sexual assault and rape allegations. Within the criticism, the nameless ladies accuse Robinson of raping them at a number of of his residences, most primarily at his residence in Chatsworth, California. The listed causes of motion embrace negligence, sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment and a hostile work setting, amongst different claims.
Frances was additionally named as a defendant within the go well with, with the ladies claiming that she “did not take the suitable corrective motion to stop Defendant Robinson’s deviant misconduct.”
Robinson denied the allegations, calling them “vile” and “false,” with Frost beforehand saying, “the proof will present that that is merely an unpleasant technique of attempting to extract cash from an 85-year-old American icon — $50 million {dollars}, to be actual.”
Robinson’s cross-complaint calls the ladies’s claims “fabricated,” including that the ladies “paraded themselves in entrance of the media” at their Might 6 press convention with assist from their attorneys.
“When pre-litigation calls for for $100 million or extra didn’t work, Plaintiffs created a media circus and made a public spectacle of themselves,” the go well with mentioned.
Robinson’s countersuit additionally accuses the ladies of hiding, concealing and destroying proof “exposing their unlawful scheme.” In a single instance, the go well with claims “one Plaintiff took Ms. Robinson’s cellphone and deleted all their textual content exchanges, images and figuring out info.”
In one other occasion, the go well with claims Frances found a number of of her monetary information (together with financial institution statements) had been lacking and that “at the least one Plaintiff had entry to and knew precisely the place these information had been saved.” The cross-complaint additionally states that one other Plaintiff knew “the place the Robinsons’ valuables had been saved, together with a hidden secure and gold Krugerrands,” and that it was later stolen. The Robinsons reported the theft to the police, in response to the go well with.
In a separate movement filed Wednesday, the Robinsons’ lawyer sought to dismiss the preliminary go well with introduced by the ladies.
THR has reached out to lawyer John W. Harris, who represents the 4 ladies, for remark.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division later introduced that it had opened a felony investigation into the sexual assault allegations in opposition to Robinson. Authorities mentioned the investigation was in “the early phases” on the time.