Two prominent figures in the entertainment industry, Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, are facing sexual assault allegations in separate cases filed in New York ahead of a statute of limitations deadline.
In the case against Axl Rose, actress and model Sheila Kennedy alleges that the rock icon sexually assaulted her in 1989, claiming non-consensual actions that left her feeling overpowered.
Filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act, the lawsuit seeks punitive damages and calls for a jury trial.
The second case involves Jamie Foxx, where an accuser identified as Jane Doe alleges that the actor intentionally and without consent used force to touch her, groping her breasts and genitals at a Manhattan rooftop bar in 2015.
Similarly submitted under the New York Adult Survivors Act, the lawsuit aims for a jury trial and punitive damages.
Both cases are part of a legal avenue provided by the New York Adult Survivors Act, allowing sexual assault survivors to file lawsuits for incidents that occurred too long ago to prosecute under previous statutes of limitations.
The complaint against Axl Rose alleges that the musician forced anal sex on Sheila Kennedy in a New York hotel room, leveraging his fame, status, and power as a celebrity to manipulate and violently assault her.
Kennedy’s legal team claims that she feared physical harm if she resisted.
In the Jamie Foxx case, the plaintiff claims that Foxx, also utilising his fame, assaulted her at a Manhattan rooftop bar by pulling her to a secluded area and groping her until interrupted by a friend.
As these high-profile cases unfold, they underscore the ongoing societal reckoning with issues of sexual assault and the legal pathways survivors are increasingly exploring to seek justice.
The Herald gathered that both Foxx and Rose are yet to publicly comment on the allegations.
Guns N’ Roses, fronted by Axl Rose, rose to fame in the late ‘80s with iconic hits like ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, while Jamie Foxx is renowned for his multifaceted career as an actor, comedian, and Grammy-winning singer.