A judge tossed his defamation counterclaims, but the full legal battle is far from settled.
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed the defamation counterclaims Smokey Robinson filed against the former housekeepers suing him for sexual assault, dealing a partial blow to the Motown legend’s $500 million legal counteroffensive while leaving other portions of his case intact.
Judge Kevin C. Brazile issued the ruling today, finding that Robinson had not provided sufficient evidence to hold his accusers or their attorneys liable for calling him a rapist at a public press conference held last year. The decision does not address whether the underlying sexual assault allegations are true or false. It applies only to the defamation claims, which carry a higher legal threshold under California law because of free speech protections.
What the judge found in the Robinson case
Under California law, a public figure seeking to advance defamation claims must demonstrate that the opposing party acted with actual malice, meaning they knowingly made a false statement at the time they made it. Judge Brazile concluded that Robinson failed to meet that standard even after the depositions of the accusers were completed.
The judge acknowledged that Robinson’s legal team had presented some supporting evidence, including what the ruling described as inconsistencies in the women’s accounts and unusual circumstances surrounding their continued employment after the alleged incidents. Even so, the court found that the threshold for actual malice had not been cleared, and noted that a jury could reasonably find the accusers’ testimony credible. That determination ended the defamation portion of the countersuit.
What survived the ruling are Robinson’s separate claims alleging that the women deleted evidence and stole personal property belonging to the Robinson family. Those claims are advancing through the discovery process alongside the accusers’ core sexual assault allegations. A trial is currently scheduled for 2027.
The case that triggered the legal fight
The litigation began in May 2025, when four anonymous former housekeepers filed a $50 million lawsuit accusing Robinson, now 85, of sexually abusing them between 2007 and 2024. A fifth housekeeper and a male car mechanic later joined the suit with their own anonymous allegations. Robinson denied all of the claims at the time, characterizing them as fabricated and financially motivated. He countersued the accusers within weeks of the initial filing.
The accusers subsequently filed police reports, prompting the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to open a criminal investigation. No charges have been filed to date.
The attorney representing the accusers described today’s ruling as a clear victory for his clients and for the broader principle that individuals should be able to speak publicly about alleged misconduct without facing retaliatory legal action. Robinson’s attorney pushed back firmly, maintaining that the dismissed claims were rejected on a procedural technicality rather than on the merits, and that significant inconsistencies remain in the women’s accounts. He said the legal team’s focus now turns to challenging the underlying allegations directly as the case moves toward trial.
Story credit: TMZ