L-A Radio: Ex-DJ Rodney Bingenheimer Sued For Sexual Assault

Kari Krome

Kari Krome — a songwriter and co-founder of the 1970s all-female punk group the Runaways — has filed a lawsuit against the estate of the Runaways’ late manager Kim Fowley and the former KROQ DJ and nightclub owner Rodney Bingenheimer. She alleges that the men sexually assaulted her in the 1970s, starting when she was 13.

Krome, whose legal name is Carrie Mitchell, “is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, sexual battery, assault, and molestation,” say court documents obtained by The L-A Times.

When she was “approximately 13 and 14 and 15 years old, Defendant Rodney Bingenheimer and Defendant Kim Fowley used their roles, status, and power as adults, as well as their connections to and work in the music industry to gain access to manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault” her, the documents say.

According to the lawsuit, the sexual abuse began after Krome met Bingenheimer, who was 28, at his nightclub, Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, on the Sunset Strip. She claims that he began grooming her and eventually began sexually assaulting her.

Rodney Bingenheimer

Krome alleges that Bingenheimer knew that she was interested in music and introduced her to his “good friend” Fowley, who eventually hired her as a songwriter for his publishing company.

According to the suit, Krome broached the idea of an all-girls rock band with Fowley. Separately, they recruited the members, including Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett, to ultimately form the Runaways.

The suit also claims that Fowley took credit for many of the songs Krome wrote for the group, including lyrics for their hit “Cherry Bomb” that she claims he lifted straight from her journal.

This isn’t the first time Fowley, who died in 2015, has been accused of sexual assault. In a Huffington Post article published shortly after Fowley’s death, the Runaways’ bassist, Jackie Fuchs, claimed that he raped her at a party while others watched; Krome corroborated Fuchs’ story and in the article detailed her own allegations of assault against Fowley.