Axl Rose, lead vocalist of Guns N' Roses
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Axl Rose of the band Guns N’ Roses was sued Wednesday by a woman who accused him of dragging her by the hair, tying her up and raping her in 1989.
The suit was filed in New York state Supreme Court by Sheila Kennedy, a former model who has appeared in Penthouse magazine. She accused Rose of sexual assault and battery, and her suit seeks unspecified damages.
Kennedy’s suit is the latest in a series of cases against powerful men that have been brought under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that created a one-year window for people who say they were victims of sexual abuse to file lawsuits after the statute of limitations has expired. That window ends this week.
In a statement, Alan Gutman, a lawyer for Rose, said: “Simply put, this incident never happened.” He added: “Though he doesn’t deny the possibility of a fan photo taken in passing, Mr. Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or speaking to the Plaintiff, and has never heard about these fictional allegations prior to today.”
In her suit, Kennedy says she met Rose in early 1989, when she went to a New York nightclub with a friend who was a fan of Guns N’ Roses.
According to Kennedy’s complaint, Rose invited her and another woman to a party at his suite in a hotel. According to the complaint, the party “was in full swing” until Rose called for everyone to leave except Kennedy, the other woman and a man.
According to the complaint, Rose began having sex with the other woman. Kennedy says she went to another room in the suite, where she could hear the sounds of breaking glass and objects being thrown in Rose’s room.
According to Kennedy’s suit, Rose stormed into the room where she was, knocked her down, “grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the suite back to his bedroom.”
In Rose’s room, the suit says, he threw her facedown on the bed, tied her hands behind her back and sexually assaulted her.
In her suit, Kennedy says that she has suffered anxiety and depression as a result of the incident, and that her career has suffered.
Kennedy has discussed the encounter in the past, including an interview on the website of The Daily Mail in 2016, and in a memoir published that same year.