Both Axl Rose and record industry veteran Jimmy Iovine have been sued as the deadline approaches for lawsuits to be filed under New York State's Adult Survivors Act.
That's the law that allows victims of sexual assault or abuse to launch new legal proceedings even if the alleged incidents took place sufficiently long ago that legal claims would usually be barred by the statute of limitations.
Former model Sheila Kennedy claims that the Guns N Roses frontman physically and sexually assaulted her during a violent altercation in a New York hotel suite in 1989. Her lawsuit alleges that the musician grabbed her "by the hair and dragged her across the suite back to his bedroom", where he restrained her and proceeded to sexually assault her.
As a result of the attack, the legal filing adds, Kennedy has suffered "lifelong emotional, physical, psychological and financial impacts" and she has developed "symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder" when hearing Guns N Roses’ music.
A legal rep for Rose told CNN that "simply put, this incident never happened", adding that his client has “no recollection" of ever meeting Ms Kennedy.
Interscope co-founder and former Universal Music and Apple Music exec Iovine is accused of sexual abuse and harassment by an unnamed woman.
Her court filing does not go into detail about the nature of her allegations, but claims that she “suffered as a result of being sexually abused, forcibly touched and subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of anti-discrimination laws in or around August 2007".
In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for Iovine said: “We are quite shocked and baffled by this alleged claim. No one has ever made a claim like this against Jimmy Iovine, nor have we been contacted or made aware of any complaint by anyone, including this unknown plaintiff prior to now".
The deadline for submitting lawsuits under the New York Adult Survivors Act is this Friday.