Violinist Brian King Joseph stirred intrigue with a mysterious Instagram message on Christmas Day, hinting at the need to “speak out.” This came just days before he initiated legal proceedings against Will Smith, accusing him of sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal, claims which Smith has firmly denied.
Joseph, who gained fame as a finalist on America’s Got Talent in 2018, was later recruited to perform on Smith’s Based on a True Story: 2025 tour. The talented musician’s career took a controversial turn with the recent lawsuit.
The legal complaint, lodged this past Tuesday, recounts an unsettling incident from a tour stop in Las Vegas last March. Joseph alleges that he returned to his hotel room at 11 p.m. to discover it had been unlawfully accessed. Inside, a handwritten note awaited him, ominously stating: “Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30 juts us,” signed off with “Stone F.” and marked with a heart.
According to the lawsuit, Joseph alerted Smith’s team to the incident but claims he was subsequently “shamed,” dismissed, and replaced. The legal document further suggests that Smith may have been “deliberately grooming and priming Mr. Joseph for further sexual exploitation.”
In response, Smith’s lawyer, Allen B. Grodsky, issued a statement to the Daily Mail categorically rejecting the accusations, labeling them “false, baseless, and reckless.”
Interestingly, just five days prior to filing the lawsuit, Joseph posted a video on Instagram, subtly alluding to the impending legal action.
The Daily Mail has contacted Smith’s counsel for comment.
Violinist Brian King Joseph shared a cryptic Instagram post on ChristmasDay about ‘speaking out’ – days before he sued Will Smith for sexual harassment
Smith, pictured 2022, has firmly denied the allegations against him, with his attorney firmly dismissing the claims as ‘false, baseless, and reckless’
In Joseph’s video, which he posted on Christmas Day, he told viewers: ”Hey everybody, I just wanted to talk about something really important.’
Joseph alleged: ‘Earlier this year, I was hired to be a performer on a major, major tour with somebody who is huge in the industry. So I was excited, proud of myself for getting the opportunity. Unfortunately some things happened, and I can’t get into the details of exactly what that was because it’s already a legal issue right now.’
He added that ‘the reason why I’m speaking out about this is because getting fired or getting blamed or shamed or threatened or anything like that, simply for reporting sexual misconduct or safety threats at work, is not okay.’
Joseph continued: ‘I know that there’s a lot of other people out there who have been afraid to speak up, and I understand, and if that’s you, I see you. And that’s pretty much it. More updates to come soon. Thanks for listening.’
The video was uploaded with the caption: ‘Important PSA: love you guys, stay safe out there and always stand up for your beliefs and what is right no matter what.’
Joseph filed suit the day before New Year’s Eve, and when the case went public, Smith’s attorney Allen B. Grodsky fired back with a statement to the Daily Mail.
‘Mr. Joseph’s allegations concerning my client are false, baseless, and reckless,’ said Grodsky. ‘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.’
In court documents reviewed by the Daily Mail, Joseph said that in November 2024, he was invited to Smith’s home to perform for him.
Smith is pictured this past July playing a date of his Based on a True Story: 2025 tour at the Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany
During this meeting, he was supposedly enlisted to play at Smith’s San Diego concert that December, as well as on the subsequent Based on a True Story: 2025 tour.
Over the course of their working relationship – which included Joseph performing on Smith’s latest album Based on a True Story – the two men allegedly became close and spent ‘additional alone time’ with one another.
Smith is alleged to have told Joseph at one stage: ‘You and I have such a special connection, that I don’t share with anyone else.’
However according to Joseph’s version of events, matters took a turn on March 20, when the first leg of the tour was in progress in Las Vegas.
The band and crew had hotel accommodations booked for them and received their room numbers and confirmation codes on a spreadsheet, such that nobody but ‘crew and hotel staff would have had access to Plaintiff’s hotel room,’ the suit insists.
Joseph alleges that he came back to his hotel room around 11pm on March 20, 2025 and discovered it had been ‘unlawfully entered’ by an ‘unknown person’ – though hotel security did not detect any signs of ‘forced entry.’
When Joseph entered the room, he says, he was confronted with the sight of a note that read: ‘Brian, I’ll be back no later [sic] 5:30, just us (drawn heart), Stone F.’
According to the lawsuit: ‘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, pictured October 2025 at the Media Access Awards, said his firing from Smith’s tour led to ‘severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages’
Joseph’s court documents say he at that point ‘feared that an unknown individual would soon return to his room to engage in sexual acts with Plaintiff.’
He instantly told hotel security and Smith’s representatives and took photos of what he had seen, as well as requesting a room change and reporting the alleged incident to a non-emergency police line, he claimed.
Joseph added further that he ‘made clear that his only concern was safety and that he did not wish to receive any special treatment or compensation.’
Days later, according to his lawsuit, a member of tour management ‘shamed’ him, to the point of ‘blaming Plaintiff for the incident that transpired on March 20, 2025.’
Per his court documents, that same member of tour management said to Joseph that that ‘everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie, nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up. So, tell me, why did you lie and make this up?’
Joseph insists he was fired in retaliation for reporting the alleged hotel incident – the culmination of an imbroglio that, according to the plaintiff, caused him ‘severe emotional distress, economic loss, reputational harm, and other damages.’
Per his court documents, the ‘stress’ of getting fired precipitated a health decline that led to ‘major physiological damage,’ on top of which he ‘suffered from PTSD and other mental illness as a result of the termination.’
Joseph filed suit against Smith this Tuesday at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, and is demanding a jury trial.
