Guns N' Roses vocalist Axl Rose 1989 rape accusation against him by former model Sheila Kennedy People . The request was reportedly made on February 21 of this year.
The lawsuit was filed against the singer on November 22, 2023, one day before the expiration of New York's Adult Survivors Act — which allows such actions to be brought to court even after the statute of limitations has expired — by Sheila Kennedy, who alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Axl in a hotel in 1989.
The complaint alleges that the former model left the nightclub with Axl Rose and went to his hotel suite, where he allegedly pushed Sheila against the wall and kissed her. Initially, she reportedly said she didn't mind, as she was willing to have sex with the singer.
As the night went on, Sheila Kennedy alleged that Rose began encouraging "group sex," which made her uncomfortable as she watched him having sex with another model. According to the complaint, Kennedy left Axl's room and later heard him throwing glass and shouting obscenities at the model.
Furthermore, she alleged that the frontman entered the room where she was sitting and knocked her to the ground, grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back to his room, which she described as a "very painful" encounter that left her with bloody knees.
What does Axl Rose's defense say?
In November 2023, following the complaint, Alan S. Gutman , Rose's lawyer, denied the allegations.
“Simply put, this incident never happened. Notably, these fictitious claims were filed one day before the New York State filing deadline expired,” Gutman said in a statement obtained by People magazine. “While he does not deny the possibility of having briefly taken a photo with the fan, Mr. Rose does not recall meeting or speaking with the plaintiff and had never heard of these fictitious allegations prior to today. Mr. Rose is confident that this case will be resolved in his favor.”
Axl's legal team also referenced Sheila Kennedy's autobiography, No One's Pet , released in 2016. In the book, the former model describes the alleged incident as "consensual sex." They also pointed to previous interviews, including one for the 2021 documentary Look Away , in which she said she "didn't consider it rape."
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