It has come to light that a series of high-profile figures in Hollywood are being sued ahead of a deadline to file lawsuits under a New York law that suspended time constraints on claims involving allegations of sexual misconduct for one year via The Hollywood Report.
It is noted that at the top of the list of defendants who are expected to be sued or were named in complaints filed on Wednesday in New York’s state Supreme Court: Axl Rose, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jamie Foxx and Jimmy Iovine.
On Tuesday, Bill Cosby was also sued in another suit from a woman claiming she was drugged and sexually assaulted in the 1980s by the actor.
Plaintiffs, who typically would’ve been constrained from suing under the statute of limitations, have been taking advantage of New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which revived the window to bring sexual misconduct claims for one year. It closes at midnight on Thursday. This month, suits were filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs, music mogul L.A. Reid and ex-Grammys CEO Neil Portnow.
In her suit, it has been noted that the former model Sheila Kennedy accuses Rose of raping her in 1989 in a violent encounter with the Guns N’ Roses frontman. After he trapped her in his hotel room, Rose “forcibly penetrat[ed] Kennedy’s anus with his penis,” making “no attempt to ask for or check that Kennedy was consenting,” according to the complaint.
Kennedy, who says she’s been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, claims her career as an actress and model have been damaged because of the assault.
The complaint against Gooding Jr. stems from charges the actor faced in 2019 over groping or forcibly kissing three women that ended with him pleading guilty to a single count of harassment but serving no jail time.
Two of the accusers are now taking him to court. Jasmine Abbay claims Gooding Jr. forcibly kissed her, while Kelsey Harbert alleges that he groped her breast. They seek damages for emotional distress and lost wages, among other things.
Foxx, meanwhile, was accused of groping in 2015 a woman, who alleged he cornered her at Catch in New York City before proceeding to “slide his hands into Plaintiff’s pants and put his fingers on and in Plaintiff’s vagina and anus.” The anonymous accuser claims assault and battery, among other claims against Catch for negligent supervision and Foxx, whose real name is Eric Marlon Bishop.
