Axl Rose Responds to Sexual Assault Allegations

Axl Rose and his legal team have formally responded to the sexual assault allegations filed in a lawsuit by former Penthouse model Sheila Kennedy in November 2023.

As previously reported, Kennedy filed her lawsuit against Rose in New York. In the lawsuit, Kennedy claims she met Rose in a New York nightclub in 1989. Shortly after that, Kennedy alleges Rose sexually assaulted her in his hotel room.

Per Classic Rock, Rose's legal team filed new court documents in response to Kennedy's lawsuit refuting her claims. The new court documents cite Kennedy's 2016 memoir No One's Pet, in which she described her encounter with Rose as consensual. Theents quote the following passage: "I was okay with this. I had wanted to be with him since I'd first seen him, and now I was getting him."

Additionally, Rose's legal team cites a 2021 documentary titled Look Away, where Kennedy recalled meeting Rose and specifically said their sexual encounter was "consensual."

Despite the incident between Kennedy and Rose in 1989, her lawsuit was filed under the pretense of New York's Adult Survivors Act. This law went into effect in November 2022. It allowed adult survivors one year to file lawsuits against their alleged abusers, even after the statute of limitations expired. The law expired on November 24, 2023.

The New York Adult Survivors Act resulted in several celebrities being sued for sexual assault and other charges. Per the Associated Press, those celebrities included Sean "Diddy" Combs," Jamie Foxx, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Steven Tyler, Russell Brand and Mike Tyson.

One of the lawsuits filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act was from former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump. In May 2023, a jury found President Trump liable for sexual abuse and defaming Carroll. Per The Hill, President Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages.

This was Carroll's second lawsuit against the 45th President of the United States. Her first lawsuit was filed in November 2019. However, according to The Hill, it was delayed after the Trump administration's Justice Department got involved. Finally, in July 2023, the Justice Department stepped away from the lawsuit and went to trial. In January 2024, a second jury ordered President Trump to pay Carroll in damages of $83.3 million for defamation when she initially came forward in June 2019 with her accusations of sexual assault.