Axl Rose, lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, was accused by a former model of sexual assault in 1989.
A former model accused Axl Rose of sexually assaulting her in New York more than 30 years ago, according to a complaint filed in New York Supreme Court on Wednesday and obtained by WECB.
Sheila Kennedy, former model of Penthouse and Pet of the Year in 1983, claims in the complaint that he met the Guns N’ Roses frontman in a New York nightclub in 1989, when he was 26. The night they met, Kennedy claims he violently sexually assaulted her in his hotel room.
According to the complaint, Ms. Kennedy experienced PTSD-like symptoms after the incident when she heard Rose’s name or Guns N’ Roses music. She further claims that she has suffered from anxiety and depression since the attack and that the trauma has compromised her career. The complaint lists assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and gender-motivated violence as causes of action, and seeks unspecified damages to be determined by the court.
Rose himself has been accused of domestic violence several times in the past. The lawsuit describes a “ history of abuse » when speaking about Rose, referring to several other allegations of sexual and domestic violence over the past decades. The lawsuit cites allegations of abuse by Rose’s former partners, Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour, detailed in a magazine article People of 1994. (Everly sued Rose for abuse in Los Angeles civil court that year, before settling the case out of court).
This isn’t the first time Sheila Kennedy has shared these details about her alleged experience with Rose: she wrote about it in her 2016 autobiography, No One’s Pet, and recalled his demands in Look Awaythe 2021 documentary about sexual misconduct in the music industry.
The action was brought under New York law Adult Survivors Act, which removed the statute of limitations on sexual assault claims in civil actions. Since this law, women have come forward to denounce several figures in the music industry, including Steven Tyler, LA Reid, former Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow, publishing executive Kenny MacPherson and the late founder from Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun.
Sheila Kennedy c. W. Axl Rose by Jason Newman
