A professional violinist has filed a civil lawsuit in California accusing actor and musician Will Smith and his management company of sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and retaliation stemming from Smith’s 2025 concert tour.
Brian King Joseph filed the complaint on December 30 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, naming Smith, 57, and Treyball Studios Management, Inc. as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that Smith engaged in conduct intended to groom and exploit Joseph after inviting him to join the Based on a True Story: 2025 global tour in November 2024.
According to the complaint, Joseph alleges a series of events in March 2025 while the tour was in Las Vegas that he describes as threatening and traumatic. The filing claims Joseph returned to his hotel room to find evidence suggesting someone had entered without forced entry. Items allegedly discovered included a handwritten note reading, “Brian, I’ll be back… just us,” signed “Stone F,” along with personal items belonging to an unidentified individual. Joseph asserts that these circumstances caused him to fear an imminent sexual encounter or assault.
The lawsuit states that Joseph reported the incident to hotel staff, contacted a local non-emergency police line, and informed members of Smith’s tour management. He alleges that instead of receiving support, he was later reprimanded by tour management and informed that his employment was being terminated. The complaint further claims that another violinist was subsequently hired to replace him on the tour.
Joseph, a Washington, D.C. native, rose to national prominence after finishing as a top-three finalist on America’s Got Talent season 13 in 2018. Court filings note that he publicly confirmed his participation in Smith’s tour via social media in December 2024.
Smith has denied the allegations. In a statement released January 1, attorney Allen B. Grodsky, speaking on Smith’s behalf, said the claims are “false, baseless, and reckless,” adding that they are “categorically denied” and that Smith will pursue all available legal remedies to address them.
The case comes amid other recent legal disputes involving the Smith family. Earlier in December, a former associate filed a separate civil lawsuit against Jada Pinkett Smith, which representatives for the family have dismissed as unfounded.
Smith’s Based on a True Story tour followed the release of his album of the same name in March 2025 and ran from June through September 2025. The lawsuit filed by Joseph is in its early stages, and no hearings have yet been scheduled.
