Guns N' Roses Axl Rose accused of 1989 sexual assault

Attorney for Rose responds: 'Simply put, this incident never happened'
PA Wire
Ellie Iorizzo23 November 2023
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

An attorney for Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has dismissed a sexual abuse and battery lawsuit as “fictional claims”.

The lawsuit was filed at the New York Supreme Court on Wednesday by actress and model Sheila Kennedy, who alleged Rose violently attacked her in a hotel room in 1989 which resulted in a diagnosis of “anxiety and depression”.

She said Rose used his “fame, status, and power” as a music star to “gain access to manipulate, control, and violently sexually assault” her, the lawsuit claims.

“Simply put, this incident never happened,” Alan Gutman, attorney for Rose said in a statement given to the PA news agency.

Mr Gutman continued: “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 favour.”

The lawsuit claims as a result of the sexual abuse and assault, Ms Kennedy has suffered “severe emotional, physical, financial and psychological distress”.

It comes as the New York Adult Survivors Act is set to expire on Thursday.

It was a law passed last year which allows a temporary window for those who allege sexual assault to file past the state’s normal deadlines.

Rose, real name William Bruce Rose, led Guns N’ Roses to deliver a debut headline performance at Glastonbury festival this summer, featuring the original line-up of Slash and Duff McKagan – who reunited with the US rockers in 2015.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in