Will Smith's reputation took a big hit after the "slap heard around the world," but his career was not completely derailed. The actor/rapper may not be quite so lucky this time.
The Suicide Squad star physically assaulted host Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards in March 2022, after the comedian made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith's, shaved head. Smith received a 10-year ban from Academy events and widespread condemnation, but an apology, interviews explaining his behaviour and a break from the public eye went at least some way towards ensuring that he wasn't completely blacklisted.
Now, Smith is once again making headlines, this time for even more serious reasons.
According to Variety, Smith is being sued by a tour violinist who is accusing him of sexual harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation.
Musician Brian King Joseph filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles just before the new year. The suit, which names Smith and Treyball Studios Management as defendants, accuses the actor of “predatory behavior” and “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation” while on his Based on a True Story: 2025 Tour this past spring.
"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," documents state. Joseph is believed to have joined the first leg of the tour in March 2025 in Las Vegas, where he was provided with a hotel room booked by Smith and his team. He claimed "no other individuals besides … the crew and hotel staff would have had access" to his personal room.
Joseph claims to have placed his room key in his bag, which was then left in a van used to transport the cast and crew around. After a rehearsal, management reportedly spent hours retrieving the bag. When Joseph returned to his hotel room later that evening, he claimed to have "discovered evidence suggesting that an unknown person had unlawfully entered the room."
"The evidence included a handwritten note addressed to Plaintiff by name, which read ‘Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F,’" the lawsuit states. "Among the remaining belongings were wipes, a beer bottle, a red backpack, a bottle of HIV medication with another individual’s name, an earring, and hospital discharge paperwork belonging to a person unbeknownst to Plaintiff."
Joseph reportedly feared that this unknown individual would return to his room to engage in unwanted sexual acts at some point, and "immediately notified hotel security and representatives for Defendant, obtained photo documentation, requested a room change, and called the local non-emergency police line (311) to report the incident."
"The facts strongly suggest that Defendant Willard Carroll Smith II was deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation. 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 states.
Smith's lawyer denied the allegations.
"Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless," Allen B. Grodsky said. "They 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."
Whether there's anything to these accusations or it's simply a case of someone trying to get a payday obviously remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Smith did not need the bad press!