Axl Rose has demanded sanctions against the former Penthouse model who accused him of sexually assaulting her during a 1989 party in a New York City hotel room.
In a February 21 filing, lawyers for the Guns N' Roses frontman claimed that the plaintiff, Sheila Kennedy, is trying to "rewrite history" with her lawsuit filed last November, and denied all of her allegations, according to legal documents obtained by Q. They also alleged that Kennedy "has herself repeatedly acknowledged" that she was "never sexually assaulted" by Rose.
'Despite having made clear and definitive statements... that her alleged sexual encounter with Rose was consensual, her position has now shifted,' the singer's legal team said of Sheila Kennedy.
"In her 2016 self-authored memoir, No One’s Pet, Kennedy described the alleged incident in the Complaint as consensual sex, 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,'" the singer's attorneys wrote.
"In an interview for the 2021 documentary Look Away, Kennedy described the alleged sexual encounter this way: '[i]t was consented'; Rose was 'not trying to hurt me'; and Rose acted 'gently.' Kennedy reiterated: 'It was okay. He was fine. ... I did not consider it rape. It was consensual.'"
Kennedy's lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allowed accusers to lodge claims against their alleged abusers after the standard statute of limitations expired.
The law has also been used to file claims against music industry figures like Sean Combs, Jimmy Iovine and Russell Simmons.
Rose's attorneys claimed Kennedy is taking advantage of the legislation for financial reasons.
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"The ASA appears to have changed Kennedy’s calculus," the attorneys said.
"Despite having made clear and definitive statements, both before and after the height of the 'Me Too' movement, that her alleged sexual encounter with Rose was consensual, her position has now shifted. The belief that the statute of limitations had re-opened and that she could profit from claiming – for the first time, nearly 35 years later – that the incident had not in fact been consensual, was apparently too great an opportunity to pass up, and so she filed this false Complaint a mere two days before its expiration."
Rose and his legal team want sanctions leveled against Kennedy and her lawyers for allegedly "engaging in frivolous conduct, making materially false statements, engaging in conduct undertaken primarily to harass and maliciously injure Defendant, and failing to conduct reasonable inquiry and diligence."
Rose allegedly assaulted Kennedy in a New York City hotel room in 1989.
Kennedy claimed she and Rose a New York City nightclub on the night of the alleged sexual assault.
The plaintiff alleged she was kissed by Rose at one point and was initially interested in having sex with the rock star. But she changed her mind when the singer allegedly had his friend clear the hotel room of everyone except Kennedy and another unnamed model.
"Rose began kissing and having sex with the other model," her lawsuit claims. "Rose was aggressive in a way that appeared painful for the model."
The suit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allowed accusers to lodge claims against their alleged abusers after the standard statute of limitations expired.
Kennedy claimed the frontman wanted her to engage in group sex, but she wasn't interested. That's when she left the hotel room and went down the hall.
The plaintiff alleges she then heard the sound of glass shattering and Rose shouting at the other model. He's then accused of coming down the hall and pushing her to the floor.
"While Kennedy was on the ground, Rose grabbed her by the hair and dragged her across the suite back to his bedroom," the complaint claims.
The frontman then allegedly threw the model onto his bed and assaulted her.
"Kennedy did not consent and felt overpowered," the complaint claimed. "Kennedy had just witnessed Rose violently have sex with another woman… He dragged Kennedy to his bedroom like a caveman and acted with uncontrolled fury. Rose had physically stopped her from leaving and locked her in. Kennedy was trapped… She understood that the safest thing to do was to lie in bed and wait for Rose to finish assaulting her."
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