Axl Rose is being sued for for a sexual assault that allegedly occured over 30 years ago. Sheila Kennedy has alleged that in 1989, the Guns N’ Roses frontman violently assaulted her in his New York hotel room on the night they met. According to Rolling Stone, Kennedy and Rose met at a nightclub then proceeded to his hotel room. At one point, she says he pushed her against the wall and kissed her. “Kennedy found Rose attractive and did not mind this encounter. She was open to sleeping with him if things progressed,†the lawsuit states. Then she saw Rose initiate sex with another model in a way “that appeared painful.†Kennedy left Rose’s hotel room and went to that of future MTV VJ Riki Rachtman. Kennedy says she then heard the sound of glass breaking and Rose screaming at the model. “It’s going to get bad,†Rachtman allegedly told Kennedy.
Rose then dragged Kennedy back to his room, where he tied her up with pantyhose, and forcibly penetrated her. “[H]e was in a sexual, volatile rage,†the lawsuit says. “Kennedy did not consent and felt overpowered.â€
Rose’s attorney told TMZ that “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 again fictional allegations prior to today.†Kennedy has spoken about this alleged assault in her 2016 memoir and in the 2021 documentary Look Away.
Kennedy is the latest in a list of survivors who are using the New York’s Adult Survivors Act to address assaults by men in the music industry from decades past. Rose’s attorney noted that the filing against him happened the day before the newly extended filing deadline expired. Lawsuits have been lodged against L.A. Reid, Sean “Diddy†Combs, former Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow, and Stephen Tyler (who is also facing a lawsuit in California stemming from a similar temporary lifting of the statute of limitations).
This post has been updated throughout.