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Judge Dismisses Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Will Smith

The judge left the door open by giving the musician 30 days to amend the complaint.

Overview

  • Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Shultz dismissed the suit by touring violinist Brian King Joseph, finding the filing legally insufficient.
  • The ruling said the allegations did not meet California’s requirement that workplace harassment be “sufficiently severe or pervasive” to change job conditions.
  • The court flagged gaps about who could access Joseph’s Las Vegas hotel room, noting he left a bag with his room key in a shared tour van before the incident.
  • The judge also tossed the retaliation claim, finding Joseph did not plausibly link his removal from the tour to his report of the hotel-room discovery.
  • Joseph has 30 days to file a revised complaint or the dismissal could become final, while Will Smith’s attorney has called the allegations false and baseless.