After Allegations, Smokey Robinson Show Goes On as Planned

By the time Smokey Robinson performed “Cruisin’” near the end of his concert at the Beau Rivage Theater on Friday night, the mutual admiration was in full display between the Motown icon and a revering audience of nearly 1,600 people, with no mention made of the sexual assault allegations levied against him this week.

Mr. Robinson had long discarded the jacket from the sparkling green suit and the tie he had begun the night with.

“Do you know what you volunteered for?” he asked one woman he invited onstage.

“We’ll be right back,” Mr. Robinson said when she answered that she had freely agreed to join him in front of the audience, and he took a few steps pretending to accompany her backstage. He then implored her to get the audience to sing “Cruisin’” lyrics with them.

Mr. Robinson, 85, smiled widely throughout a festive set, dancing suggestively while performing many of his landmark songs as part of a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his album “A Quiet Storm” and the release of a new album, “What the World Needs Now.”

He proceeded with the concert just days after four women who worked as housekeepers for Mr. Robinson claimed in a lawsuit that he had repeatedly sexually abused them for years at his homes in California and Nevada. Three of the women did not report the allegations sooner over fear of their immigration status, the lawsuit states.

The suit argues that Mr. Robinson created a hostile work environment and demanded they work long hours without receiving minimum wage. It also claims that Mr. Robinson’s wife, Frances Robinson, knew of the assaults but did not to stop them.