Smokey Robinson Says Accusers Hurting His Tour for Settlement Leverage – Billboard

The Motown singer says his former housekeepers’ strategy is to “let the lawsuit linger publicly” until he gives in to an extortionate $100 million settlement demand. Smokey Robinson speaks onstage at the 21st Annual Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Gala at The Beverly Hilton on August 20, 2021 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Tiffany Rose/Getty Images for Harold and Carole Pump Foundation Smokey Robinson claims in a new court filing that the former housekeepers suing him for rape are trying to slow-walk the lawsuit to gain maximum leverage for an extortionate settlement payout, including by dealing a financial blow to the Motown legend’s ongoing tour. Lawyers for the 85-year-old singer made this argument in a Thursday (June 12) motion to require the deposition of one of the four anonymous former housekeepers who allege he forced them to have sex at his Los Angeles-area home dozens of times over nearly two decades. Robinson adamantly denies the claims and has countersued the women for extortion, defamation and elder abuse. Robinson’s attorney, Christopher Frost, says in the new court filing that the housekeepers are refusing to participate in evidence collection. He claims that the women’s lawyer, John Harris, allegedly informed him that he wants
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