Sheila Kennedy has settled the s*xual assault lawsuit against Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose. She filed the case in November 2023. Reportedly, the case has been closed with prejudice, rendering it impossible to be filed again. Details about the terms of the agreement, however, remain scarce.
The ex-Penthouse model claimed Rose assaulted her in 1989 when he allegedly dragged her across the hotel from her room to his at a hotel in New York. She claimed that he then held her hands behind her back and forced himself on her. Rose, however, has maintained his innocence. He told Rolling Stone:
"As I have from the beginning, I deny the allegations."
Axl Rose cites Sheila Kennedy's conflicting accounts of the alleged assault, moves to have the case dismissed: Read more
As reported by Louder Sound, Rose’s lawyer, E. Danya Perry, said,
"Mr. Rose has suffered greatly from this lawsuit, and I am pleased that he will now be able to move on with his life."
Allegedly, Sheila Kennedy and Axl Rose met at a nightclub. She then agreed to go back to his suite to party more with cocaine and alcohol. She noted that following an initial encounter with the frontman, she "did not mind," Rose "dragged Kennedy to his bedroom like a caveman and acted with uncontrolled fury."
At the time, Louder Sound received the following statement from Rose's attorney, Alan S. Gutman, at Gutman Law in Los Angeles:
"Simply put, this incident never happened. Notably, these fictional claims were filed the day before the New York State filing deadline expires. 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. Mr. Rose is confident this case will be resolved in his favor."
Per Theprp, the lawsuit claims that Sheila Kennedy was under the impression that "Rose would physically attack her, or worse if she said no or attempted to push him away. She understood that the safest thing to do was to lie in bed and wait for Rose to finish assaulting her.” She also claimed to be treated like "property."
Per BBC, the complaint also alleges that following the attack, Kennedy was left with "lifelong emotional, physical, psychological, and financial impacts" and developed "symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder."
In February 2024, however, Rose moved to have the case thrown out, citing conflicting accounts of that night. He also presented an excerpt from Kennedy‘s 2016 memoir. Per Theprp, his legal team claimed:
"In her 2016 self-authored memoir, No One’s Pet, Kennedy described the alleged incident in the Complaint as consensual s*x, and specifically noted: ‘I was okay with this. I had wanted to be with him since the minute I’d first laid eyes on him, and now I was getting him.'”
In her suit, Sheila Kennedy accused Rose of assault, battery, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress, among others. She claimed the frontman “targeted" her and used his status as a celebrity to “manipulate, control and violently sexually assault” her. She also detailed the alleged instance in the 2021 documentary Look Away, BBC has reported.
Kennedy filed the suit not long before the statute of limitations pertaining to sexual misconduct claims for civil suits came into effect in November 2023. It was initially waived for 12 months owing to the terms of the New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
As reported by People Magazine, Rose's lawyers contended that Sheila Kennedy discovered she "could profit from claiming that the incident had not in fact been consensual" once the statute of limitations had come into the picture.
"Kennedy cannot and will not succeed in this unscrupulous attempt at a financial windfall. This lawsuit will lay bare the falsity of these vexatious and meritless allegations," the suit reads. Simply put, this incident never happened. Notably, these fictional claims were filed the day before the New York State filing deadline expired."
Sheila Kennedy's complaint also referred to other instances of Rose's alleged s*xual misconduct, including when he was arrested for st*tutory r*pe. However, the charges against him were later dropped. It also listed a People Magazine cover story from 1994 that saw Rose's former partners, Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour, accuse him of abusing them.
The two went on to file suits against him. Everly filed the case in a Los Angeles civil court, but both women settled the case outside of court, before it went to trial.
Trending
As reported by Rolling Stone, both parties agreed to incur their own legal costs. Sheila Kennedy's lawsuit is the latest to come in a growing list of s*xual misconduct suits. Several prominent men have been hit with similar claims, including Sean "Diddy" Combs, Steven Tyler, and Admet Ertegun.
Reply
