Two More Industry Names Facing Sexual Assault Lawsuits

Jimmy Lovine

Jimmy Lovine, Axl Rose Also Named in Sexual Assault Lawsuits Ahead of New York’s Adult Survivors Act Deadline

Digital Music News reports music Industry veteran Jimmy Lovine is being sued by a Jane Doe plaintiff, who alleges multiple inszStances of sexual abuse and a specific incident that took place in 2007, during the time he acted as Chief Executive of Interscope Records.

In a string of sexual abuse lawsuits filed during the last couple of weeks, Co-founder of Interscope Records, Jimmy Lovine, was served a summons ahead of a case due to be filed. The court document, according to multiple sources, reveals that the woman is seeking compensation via damages and consists of allegations that she “suffered as a result of being sexually abused, forcibly touched, and subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of anti-discrimination laws in or around August 2007.”

Lovine will have to respond to the summons in 20 days, or 30 if the summons isn’t served to him in person. A spokesperson for Lovine has released a statement to media outlets: “We are quite shocked and baffled by this alleged claim. This inquiry is the first we’ve heard of this matter. No one has ever made a claim like this against Jimmy Lovine, nor have we been contacted or made aware of any complaint by anyone, including this unknown Plaintiff, prior to now.”

Axel Rose

Of the many complaints filed just this month (as the Adult Survivor’s Act deadline expired), Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose was also served on Wednesday for allegedly sexually assaulting former Penthouse model, Shiela Kennedy.

Kennedy’s filing refers to an incident that took place in a New York City hotel room in 1989, alleging that Rose, now 61, “knocked her to the floor,” dragged her by the hair, restrained her hands, and proceeded to sexually assault her “while he was in a sexual, volatile rage.”

The complaint further states Kennedy has suffered “severe emotional, physical, financial and psychological distress from the assault.” Other disturbing details in the filing narrate, “Kennedy did not consent and felt overpowered. She understood that the safest thing to do was to lie in bed and wait for Rose to finish assaulting her.

Axl Rose’s attorney, Alan S. Gutman, responded with a statement to CNN on Wednesday saying, “Simply put, this incident never happened.”

Unfortunately, as the deadline for New York’s ruling neared expiry, Lovine and Axl are only two in a swarm of music industry professionals and Hollywood celebrities named in sexual assault lawsuits.

Last week, rapper record-producer and actor Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs was accused by ex-partner Casandra Ventura — known professionally as Cassie — of violent behavior, disturbed demands, and sexual assault.

Within a few days of the filing, Diddy settled the rape and assault lawsuit. However, his attorney Ben Brafman emphasized that the decision to settle ‘is in no way an admission of wrongdoing’ and doesn’t ‘in any way undermine his’ client’s ‘flat-out denial of the claims.’