Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose accused of rape by former model

Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose has been accused of sexual assault and rape by a former model who claimed that the incident happened in 1989 at a New York City hotel. She has now sued him asking for compensation as the episode left her with anxiety and depression and harmed her career.

The woman, Sheila Kennedy, 61, filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for physical injury, pain and suffering, severe emotional distress, mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety and economic harm.

The lawsuit filed against the singer falls under a temporary New York law, the Adult Survivors Act, that lets adult victims sue over attacks that occurred even decades ago. The law expires after Thursday.

Axl Rose’s attorney Alan S. Gutman said in a statement, “Simply put, this incident never happened. Notably, these fictional claims were filed the day before the New York State filing deadline expires. 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."

Meanwhile, in her lawsuit, the woman alleged that she met with the singer in February 1989 in a Manhattan nightclub. The singer then invited her to join a party in his hotel suite. She claimed in her lawsuit that she saw him having sex with another model before he got angry with the woman and ordered her out of his suite.

He then turned toward Kennedy, dragging her across a floor by the hair and tying her hands together with pantyhose, before assaulting her from behind, the lawsuit said.

“Rose made no attempt to ask for or check that Kennedy was consenting," the lawsuit said. “He treated her like property used solely for his sexual pleasure."

According to the lawsuit documents, the woman was left with lifelong emotional, physical, psychological and financial damage and “symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder whenever she hears Rose’s name or the music of Guns N’ Roses."

She was diagnosed with anxiety and depression because of the attack. The lawsuit documents state that her earnings suffered as she avoided nightclubs because of the trauma attached to those dim lit places.