Axl Rose settles sexual assault lawsuit, maintains innocence

Axl Rose in 2023 — (Image credit: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

Axl Rose has settled the sexual assault lawsuit that was filed against him in November last year. It is understood that the Guns N' Roses frontman and plaintiff Sheila Kennedy have reached a private settlement and that the case has been closed with prejudice, meaning that it cannot be filed again. The terms of the agreement have not been revealed.

"As I have from the beginning, I deny the allegations," Rose tells Rolling Stone. "There was no assault."

In a separate statement, Rose’s lawyer, E. Danya Perry, said, "Mr. Rose has suffered greatly from this lawsuit, and I am pleased that he will now be able to move on with his life."

According to the court documents, the alleged assault took place in 1989, after former Penthouse model Kennedy met Rose in a nightclub. Kennedy claimed that she agreed to attend a party in Rose's hotel suite, where she and other guests were plied with cocaine and alcohol. After an initial encounter with Rose that Kennedy "did not mind", the lawsuit went on to describe the alleged assault in detail, stating that Rose had "dragged Kennedy to his bedroom like a caveman and acted with uncontrolled fury." The suit went on to allege that Rose forcibly penetrated Kennedy’s anus with his penis.

At the time, Louder reached out to Rose's representatives for comment, and received a statement from his attorney, Alan S. Gutman at Gutman Law in Los Angeles.

“Simply put, this incident never happened," said Gutman. "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."

Although Kennedy's lawsuit was filed shortly before the statute of limitations on sexual misconduct claims for civil suits – waived for 12 months under the terms of New York’s Adult Survivors Act – was reintroduced in November 2023, she also detailed the alleged assault in her 2016 autobiography, No One’s Pet, and in Look Away, a 2021 documentary about sexual misconduct in the music industry.

Artists

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.