Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has reached a private settlement in the sexual assault lawsuit filed against him in November 2023. The terms of the agreement remain undisclosed.
Rose, 62, continues to deny the allegations made by former Penthouse model Sheila Kennedy regarding an alleged incident in 1989. "As I have from the beginning, I deny the allegations. There was no assault," Rose stated.
The lawsuit, filed under New York's Adult Survivors Act just before the deadline expired, claimed that Kennedy was sexually assaulted by Rose in his Manhattan hotel suite after meeting at a nightclub. Kennedy alleged that while their initial interaction was consensual, Rose later became aggressive, dragging her by her hair and assaulting her.
Rose's attorney E. Danya Perry commented, "Mr. Rose has suffered greatly from this lawsuit, and I am pleased that he will now be able to move on with his life."
Court documents show both parties agreed to discontinue the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. Each party will cover their own legal costs.
Kennedy, who was Penthouse magazine's "Pet of the Year" in 1983, had previously shared these allegations in her 2016 autobiography "No One's Pet" and in the 2021 documentary "Look Away," which explored sexual misconduct in the music industry.
When the lawsuit was initially filed, Rose's previous attorney Alan Gutman stated that Rose had no recollection of meeting Kennedy and called the allegations "fictional."
This is not the first time Rose has faced such accusations. The lawsuit referenced previous abuse claims from former partners Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour, detailed in a 1994 People magazine article. Everly's separate lawsuit against Rose was settled out of court that same year.
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