Guns,Roses and Sexual Assault: Shelia Kennedy vs. Axl Rose

0:00 [Music] In 1989, Guns and Roses was on top of the music world. Their debut album, "Apatite for Destruction" became one of the largest selling metal albums of all time. [Music] In the follow-up, "GNR Lies" had just been released reaching number two on the album's chart.

0:48 [Music] Axel Rose, the lead singer of Guns and Roses, had the bad boy reputation that you would expect from a metal band in the late 80s. Wild parties in drunken tirades were common. [Music] But for popular pin house pet of the year, Sheila Kennedy, rape was not part of the persona that made up Axel Rose. [Music] In this episode, we bring you into the hotel room on that very night in 1989, when the allegations made by Sheila Kennedy create the fallout that ensued.

1:35 [Music] Welcome to Exposed, scandalous files of the elite, Guns, Roses, and Sexual Assault. [Music] Alright, so before we get into today's podcast, I got to get that legal stuff out of the way. This has not been adjudicated yet. This is a lawsuit in this situation. It's Sheila Kennedy who is suing Axel Rose, but no one has been found guilty in this lawsuit.

2:16 So, if you're a product of the 80s or 90s, you know about the subject of today's podcast, and that is Guns and Roses Frontman Axel Rose. Now, recently it came out that Axel is being sued for sexual assault by former pin house pet of the year, Sheila Kennedy. So, this particular incident is alleged to have taken place in 1989. And before we get into the details, you may wonder about the accuser. Who is Sheila Kennedy? Well, Sheila Kennedy was born in 1963, and in 1981, actually December of 1981, she was the pin house pet of the month, a very popular pin house pet.

3:04 And she was just 18 years old at the time. Now, that same year, she moved into the pin house mansion, and she lived there until the age of 28, y'all, some 10 years later. She was likely the most popular pin house pet of all time, so popular, in fact, that in 1983, she became the pin house pet of the year. And she graced the cover of pin house a record four times. Now, let me tell y'all the difference between pin house and playboy, not a whole lot. Some people say that playboy was a little classier magazine at that time. Pin house, a little, I guess, smudderer would be what you'd call it.

3:51 But they were big time rivals. Both had mansions, and both had representatives who traveled and promoted the magazine. Playboy had playmates of the year, and pin house had what they call pets of the year. So, in 1983, Sheila Kennedy was doing just that. As the pin house pet of the year, she traveled a lot, promoting the pin house brand. She actually appeared on the David Letterman show in 1983, and that interview gives a lot of insight into what a pin house pet did at that time. So, I'm going to go ahead and play that clip for you. This is Sheila Kennedy on David Letterman in 1983.

4:35 We're excited about my first guest tonight. She is the current reigning US pin house pet of the year, and will soon compete against 34 other contestants from around the globe for $1 million this month. Please welcome Sheila Kennedy. Sheila. [Applause] I'll see you. First of all, congratulations. You must be pretty excited about this, huh? Very. And what is the big pageant you're competing with women from all over the world? Well, this is new this year for pin house. Pin house magazine is having a pageant in the Leninx city for 34 girls from different countries.

5:20 And I'm the US girl. The magazine is circulated to each one of these different countries. And what would be one of the more exotic countries that you'll be up against? Actually, a woman from the company. Well, I haven't had a chance to meet the girls, so I'm meeting them tonight. Yeah, I know, but it's like India. You go Slavia. I mean, I was in India as one. Japan. What's a phone? Well, I tell you what, no, it's, I don't know that I could name 34 countries. And I was wondering if, you know, with smaller countries, Tunisia, Miss Australia, Japan, Miss Italy, Miss Switzerland, I'm roaming with Miss Switzerland.

6:04 Oh, so they already have, you're roaming with Miss Switzerland? Kids would be up late making cocoa, I'm sure. Now, you're a very, you're a lovely young woman. Now let's, let's talk about this. I'm always a little concerned. Well, let's show, let's show this. This is how it begins. We can show this. There you are with some of your prizes. You won this car and then also in the background you get yourself a diesel truck, which I'm sure you get it. You get it. There's probably a lot of real jealousy over that truck among the girls. But now, now let's just, let's talk about this and then we'll get it out of the way. Now some of these pictures, good, Lord Sheila.

6:44 Now, they're lovely, they're lovely photographs, but now your parents, what does, what do they think of this? Well, my mother and father are very supportive. They love it. Really? Because I've went on to become an actress and I'm working as an actress and they're very happy for me. Yeah, they don't, these pictures when they open them up, they don't, it doesn't, I think they're very tasteful. I do. Oh, no, the very beautiful. No, the pictures are great. The pictures are beautiful and you're beautiful, but you, you mean mom doesn't? No. Oh, she must be sick about it. Oh. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

7:28 All right, now that's out of it. What did you do before you became one of the penthouse girls and then you? I had penthouse girls and then later the pet of the year. I was a camera girl and I was working in Las Vegas, Nevada and I met a freelance photographer there and he introduced me to a bar, Uncle Johnny. And where are you from originally? In Cathy Kitten. I'm from Memphis, Tennessee. Now do you have a boyfriend, back home in Memphis? I have a few, not back home, just here in New York. A few. Leaf Garrett was one? Life. Life Garrett. Oh, life Garrett. And who else? Raymond Sainey. Raymond, the boxer? Yes.

8:08 Oh boy. Yeah, he seems like a very nice guy. He does. I mean, he, he, he's, he's been on the show. He's a very nice guy. He is, isn't he? Yes, he is. And now in one of the things I read this afternoon, you mentioned that Laff Garrett was your ideal date or ideal man. Is that true? Well, I, I've been seen him and we're very, very close and we're good friends and I think he's a very nice guy. But I think that when you tell someone something, they can rewrite it and put it into their own words. So you didn't actually? Yeah. But you actually... Now when that was printed, did that cause a lot of ill feelings among your, your other male friends?

8:48 Yes. Yes, it did. But... Did the, was Ray upset by that? A little, a little. Yeah, well, you're in a movie now with Shelley Winners, right? Right. What was that like? Is she nice to a young up coming star? I thought she was very nice. She really helped me out a lot. Did you spend any time with her away from the set? Yes, we went into a dressing room, we went over lines and she was very nice to me. She taught me a lot of things about the camera and the set and the people and about Hollywood. Did you, were you familiar with her career at all? Oh, yeah.

9:28 Yeah. She gave me a book or a bio? One of her books, yeah. One of her books and one of her books. And she was very nice to me. She signed it and she was just real sweet woman. Did you read the book? No, I read a little bit. I haven't, I haven't really had the time but I read some of it. And she was quizzing everyone on the set. Really? Like what kind of things would she want to know? Well, I did, you read chapter, so I'm saying when I was with Earl Flynn, whatever it was like. Oh, she wanted to know if everybody was up on her love life. Right, right. Let me, there's a big fight tonight, Hagler and Durand, which at this time this air is maybe over.

10:10 Who do you favor in that? Hagler. Really? Why? I think he's a very strong fighter and I think he's going to win tonight. Yeah, but you know, you're probably right but it would be nice. I think a lot of people have emotional reasons for winning Durand to come back and sort of straighten things up. But beating Marmo is going to be a great fight. Yeah, nice meeting you Sheila. Good luck in the pageant. When is it going to be? I'm leaving November 13 for two week rehearsal and the actual pageant will be shot on Thanksgiving. Okay, well, give my best to Miss Switzerland. Was it Miss Switzerland? All right, say hello to her for us. So as you can tell by that clip, her star was rising. Look, she was beautiful. Y'all back then she was a blonde.

10:51 Now she's a burnette, but even now she is a gorgeous woman back then just a knockout as you would imagine. And her star was rising movie roles soon followed and she appeared on many lower budget. I guess you call them sex comedies. They were just kind of centered around, you know, sexual circumstances. And she even had some roles for more mainstream movies like National Ampune's European vacation. If you'll remember in European vacation, they opened up and it was like a game show with pigs. And they had like pig costumes on. She was the person who played the game show prize model on that opening scene.

11:37 Now even 25 years after she was named Petta the Year, she was still popular. She appeared on Big Brother 9, 25 years later. This was in 2008 and she made it 77 days in the Big Brother House before finishing eventually in third place. And as you might expect being that she was a pin house petta the year, Sheila Kennedy's personal life was also on fire during the 80s and 90s especially. She dated many popular stars at that time, actor leaf Garrett, very popular during that time, Scott Bale, who dated everybody, also dated Sheila Kennedy.

12:20 And even boxer Ray Mancini, who was a very popular boxer during that time, she had romantic relationships with and dated. So no doubt about it, Sheila Kennedy was on top of the world during that time. So let's talk about Axel Rose. And it's important to mention before we get into this particular lawsuit that Axel is no stranger to lawsuits and allegations. So Axel was actually arrested over 20 times as a teenager in Indiana. He is a self-professed crazy person.

13:01 And the rock and roll world, especially the heavy metal world of that time, that was accepted. That was as a matter of fact you were expected to be a little bit off-kilter. He destroyed hotel rooms just about every time he stayed in one. Axel and guitarist Slash were actually charged with statutory rape in 1985. And this was kind of the hide of his fame. After Rose had sex with a 15 year old girl named Michelle. After sleeping together, they had an argument in the girl left the house while she was still naked. Rose recalled the events, and he was quoted as saying, "This hippy chick wandered in and started fucking with our equipment and trying to break stuff."

13:48 So eventually she wound up running down sunset Boulevard naked, all dingy and didn't even know her name. While the police went looking for Rose and Slash and they actually spent several weeks being fugitives. They were hiding from the police. The charges against them were eventually dropped though due to lack of evidence. Then in November of 1987 Rose was arrested on stage after assaulting a security guard during a show. Rose was held backstage and allowed to leave if he apologized to the guards. He said, "Fuck that, I'm not apologizing." And he was arrested.

14:28 In 1990 Rose was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly hitting his next door neighbor in the head with an empty wine bottle. Now Rose says that the neighbor swung the wine bottle at him after he responded to her yelling. There had also been frequent incidences between the two over the loud music being played. The run-in with his neighbors actually inspired a song on the album "Use Your Elysium One" and it's called Right Next Door to Hell. So go listen to that if you're curious on his thoughts of that. In 1992 Rose was arrested for his role in the Riverport riot. Rose was found guilty of property damage and assault.

15:16 He was found $50,000 and he was given two years' probation. In 1998 Rose was arrested yet again this time at the Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona for threatening an airport guard who was searching his luggage. In that case he was just charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and his publicist said the incident was a simple misunderstanding and that Rose was simply trying to protect a fragile memento he had been given. Then in June of 2006 in Sweden he was arrested for biting a security guard on the leg.

15:56 Now the guard had confronted Rose who was arguing with a woman in a hotel lobby. Rose was deemed too intoxicated to be questioned right away by police. He was fined $5,500 for the incident and ordered to pay $1,360 in damages to the guard which is like ordering me to pay $25. Now that's his criminal issues but he also had a lot of lawsuits come his way that were civil. A lot of these involved former bandmates, partners and managers in 1992. The audience member who I told you about who rose attacked during that Riverport riot sued him for $210,000 in damages.

16:41 He actually settled out of court for $160,000. And Stephanie Seymour who he was engaged to they separated in 1993 and Rose actually sued her after claiming she assaulted him at a 1992 Christmas party. So Seymour files a counter-sue claiming assault and battery by Rose. Both lawsuits were eventually settled out of court. Then in 1994 Rose's ex-wife Aaron Everley filed a suit against Rose of physical and emotional abuse throughout their relationship and that lawsuit was settled out of court.

17:22 Then in 2004 Rose unsuccessfully sued to prevent the release of the Roots of Guns and Roses and that was early recordings from his band. He had a band prior to Guns and Roses known as Hollywood Rose. Later that year Rose was joined by former bandmates Slash and Duff in unsuccessfully suing to prevent the release of greatest hits. Slash and Duff then sued Rose over publishing and songwriting credits in 2006 which Rose claimed were due to clerical errors when switching publishers could be true. In 2010 a former band manager by the name of Irving Azalf sued Rose and he wanted $1.87 million in unpaid fees related to touring.

18:13 Rose counter-sue Tim and he said Azalf had deliberately mismanaged the band and sabotaged the record sales to force him to join his former bandmates for a reunion tour. So at that time he was actually broke up with the actual guns and roses band they went their separate ways and kind of started their own bands. His whole thing was this guy is trying to do this to force me to run out of money and have to do a reunion tour but those cases were settled. Now according to Rose in 2011 parts of the settlement agreement dictated that Rose and current guns and roses had to do a number of performances with Azalf's company as the promoter.

18:56 In 2010 Rose sued Activision they were video game makers for guitar hero three legends of rock and he actually sued him for $20 million and he claims Activision had violated an agreement with him to not include any reference to Slash or his band, Velvet Revolver in the game in return for a license to use the song "Welcome to the Jungle". Instead Rose noted that an image of Slash was used on the game's front cover and Rose's claim was dismissed in February of 2013 when a judge ruled that Rose had not brought suit on the contract which relied on oral promises within the two year statute of limitations that began with the game's October 2007 release.

19:45 Then in March of 2013 Rose was sued by an audience member who got hit by a microphone rose through into a crowd at the end of a show. In 2014 Rose threatened legal action over the release of Rapid Fire recordings which was his band even before Hollywood Rose and he sued to keep them from digital storefronts for a period of time. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, if you want to download that he was suing to keep that from being able to happen. In August of 2016 former Guns and Roses keyboardist Chris Pittman sued Rose for 125,000 in unpaid wages in the two party settled that in November of 2016.

20:34 So Rose, no stranger to lawsuits be it criminal or be it civil. And on the particular night we're going to talk about in 1989 Sheila Kennedy describes the situation as it occurred leading up to the allegations in this lawsuit. I want you to hear that in her words so here is that clip. It was right out the then coming off the tour that they had and he was at a nightclub, the cat club in Manhattan. I guess Ricky Rackman kind of ran the show. That was his little sidekick at the time. They had done headmangers ball on MTV and so they were always like kind of a they had a bromance going.

21:20 So my girlfriend was more into the whole heavy metal scene and I didn't know who he was. I just thought wow he's gorgeous. You know he had this long red hair and scruff on his face and I was like wow who is this guy and she goes you don't know who that is. And I said no she goes to lead singer Guns and Roses. I was like okay so we walk over and we're hanging out and he was like do you want to go to the after party at our hotel and I was like sure. And he says get rid of your friend and I said why and he goes I should a little plum. Maybe like maybe he could go pick up a model or something or do you have any other girlfriends. I said I don't know anyone here and then of course my girlfriend knew this other girl and she was a model and she was gorgeous.

22:06 And so we all go back to the hotel and they're all doing drugs and I mean it's a scene in there. It's straight out of Boogie Nights you know there's cocaine everywhere there's pills there's champagne and I just happened to go into his bathroom and I'm looking around and just went to the bathroom and everybody's in the living room. And I look around and I see bottles of lithium and all this stuff and I'm thinking he is about to explode this guy is on everything right now. And I kind of got scared because I had heard you know that you know that combination was kind of an ugly thing and it just knew and my gut that was bad.

22:52 And so that ended up being not a good thing. So she comes out of that bathroom y'all. Em Rose was waiting for her outside the door he pushes Kennedy against the wall and he kisses her. Now Kennedy found Rose attractive and she did not mind this encounter according to the lawsuit. She was open to sleeping with him at things progressed and they continued to find each other attractive. The party is still in full swing and there's a ton of people in the suite. Rose was there with a guy that was attempting to be the host of headbangers ball which was on MTV.

23:35 And his last name was Ratchman. And Rose told Ratchman to clear that suite of everyone except Kennedy and a model that Ratchman had brought to the party. So Kennedy soon finds herself in Rose's bedroom in bed with Rose Ratchman and the other model and Rose begins kissing and having sex with the other model. Kennedy she becomes very uncomfortable in her words. And she also said the way in which Rose was having sex with the woman was very aggressive and unmistakired painful and it kind of freaked her out.

24:15 As a matter of fact she said the encounter quickly became not just uncomfortable but disturbing. It appeared to Kennedy that Rose was encouraging group sex. Now she admitted that she had been open to sex with Rose but had not agreed to it and was not interested in having group sex. So soon after Ratchman and Kennedy leave Rose's bedroom they go down the hallway within the suite and they went into Ratch's bedroom in the back and they just started talking. Suddenly Kennedy hears objects being thrown in the sound of glass shattering. She also heard Rose screaming at the model saying you're a fucking whore. Get the fuck out of here.

25:01 Now in response to that commotion Ratchman warns Kennedy and she actually quotes Ratchman is saying it's gonna get bad. Then Kennedy hears Rose storming down the hallway towards her in Ratchman in Ratchman's bedroom. Upon seeing Kennedy in the bedroom he says what the fuck are you doing back here? Rose's demeanor and words terrified Kennedy he was furious and she did not know what he might do in this state. Rose limb threatenedly over Kennedy blocking her exit from Ratchman's room.

25:41 Then Rose grabs Kennedy by her robe and knocked her onto the floor in the hallway outside of the bedroom door. While Kennedy was still on the ground Rose grabs her by the hair and drags her across the suite back into his bedroom. She described that as being very painful and caused her knees to bleed from scraping on the rug. And back in Rose's bedroom Rose threw Kennedy on the floor. For a brief moment Kennedy crawls frantically around the floor. She's crying, she's bleeding and she's trying to gather her belongings. Suddenly Rose picks Kennedy up and threw her on the bed face down on her stomach.

26:24 He grabs her pantyhose that were nearby and ties Kennedy's hands behind her back. Kennedy is laying on the bed with her hands tied behind her back bleeding while Rose was in a sexual volatile rage in her words. Kennedy adjusts witness Rose violently have sex with another woman. He's being very violent with her and she is totally freaked out. She felt very trapped. And he sexually assaults her in her words. He forcibly penetrates Kennedy's anus with his penis.

27:05 He made no attempt to ask for or check that Kennedy was consenting. He treated her like property, used solely for his sexual pleasure and did not use a condom. Kennedy claimed she did not consent and felt ever powered and felt she had no escape or exit and was pretty much compelled to go along with it whatever he wanted. So that is the gist of her lawsuit but there's something strange in here and I'm going to play for you a clip right now. And this is a clip from an interview. It was actually a documentary that was done in 2021.

27:51 And this documentary, the whole premise of it was people who slept with rock 'n' roll stores and how rock 'n' roll stores kind of took advantage of a lot of these people and she told her story in this documentary. Very important that you hear her and her words. So I'm going to play that for you and then we'll talk about it. It's right here. I think I was 22 when I went to the cat house with my girlfriend Suzy. As soon as we walked into the cat house my girlfriend spots actual rows and she goes, "Let's go over there." And I'm like, "Whoa, he's gorgeous." I was like, "He is so friggin hot."

28:37 I said, "Alright, let's go. Let's go there." I've been on the cover of "Penel's Magazine" four times, which is kind of unheard of. Then I became pet of the year in 1983. I mean, those were amazing times. I felt like I won the lottery. I mean, here I was, I came from poverty. I could party all night, sleep all day. I had the lifestyle of a rock star. And we were pseudo celebrities back then, playmates and "Penel's Pets."

29:18 And we would get introduced to everyone because of, you know, my "Penel's Status." We were introduced to him, we were hanging out with Vaxel, and he invited me. I won't say her name, but this model, I'll just call her B. Ricky Rackman, some hangar honors. So, come back to his hotel and party some more. Mr. Ben, about one or two o'clock in the morning. Still party and drinking. And then I go to use the restroom in Axel's room. And I noticed in the restroom, there was all this medication.

30:00 And I was like, "Oh, my goodness." So he's on coke, he's on pills, he's on lithium. He's been drinking all night. I mean, we were all drinking and doing drugs. It's like that was a scene. As I come out of the bathroom, he sees me, and he puts me up against the wall, like gently. And he's, we're kissing. It's really sexy. It's really hot. And he's like, "Yeah, this is good." But then it turned into this really weird thing. Axel starts going out with B. And he starts like, "Really going out with B?" And I'm like, "Oh, God, I don't want to be in here."

30:49 And I was like, "Okay, so I go in the back bedroom." And then probably 20 minutes later, we could hear all this screaming and yelling and glass breaking in the other suite. He was verbally abusing the model B. And she ran out. And then all of a sudden, I hear Axel coming down the hallway, screaming at the top of his lungs, and saying, "Get the fuck out of here! Get the fuck, what are you doing back here? What are you doing back here?" You know, I didn't know what to say. I was like in shock, first of all, because here's this really nice guy kissing me, making out with me, and now all of a sudden he's Dr. Jekyll.

31:39 Then he comes for me, and I look in his eyes, and I'm like, "Oh, my God. Okay, he's really freaking losing it. He is angry. I don't know what he's capable of doing." And as I'm trying to leave the room, he grabs the back of my hair. And he gets a really good hold of the back of my head, and he literally starts pulling my hair and pulling me through the hallway. And I fall. And as he's pulling me, my knees are scraping against the shag rug, and I notice that they're bleeding now. And as I get to his room, he pulls me back up.

32:30 Then all of a sudden, he just tosses me on the bed. My legs are still bleeding and stuff, and I'm crying. Within seconds, turns into a different person. Like now he's quiet. He's not screaming. He's not yelling. He's not trying to hurt me. And he sees that I have blood on my legs and stuff like that, and he literally just starts apologizing to me, and he goes, "I'm so sorry. I am so, so, so, so sorry." And he gently pulls my hands behind my back, and he ties me up, and then we start having sex.

33:13 It was consented. I allowed it to happen, and it was okay. He was fine. And then after it was all over with, I was thinking, "What the hell is going on here? Like, what just happened?" What I signed up for was a one-night stand. That's what I thought I was going to get, and then it turned into something really ugly. I kind of signed up for it. I was in that situation. I put myself in that situation. I did not consider it rape. I was consensual. That's why I never went to the police or reported it. I just dealt with it.

33:55 So there you have it. And now in that clip, she admits to consenting. And the reason that I played that clip for you and had you hear all that in her own words is that is one of the big aspects of the defense. Axler Rose is answering to on this lawsuit. They pointed to that particular interview, and they pointed to another interview she did prior to that in which in both cases she said she consented to this stuff. I wasn't there. I don't know. Certainly when you are someone of Axler Rose's stature, especially during that time, but even now, you're going to have frivolous lawsuits put against you.

34:42 And people that are just wanting to get money, not saying that that is this situation, but it does happen all the time in the world of the elite. Thank you for listening to this episode and look before we get out of here. Diddy, I did a two-part series on it is absolutely on fire again. It was on fire initially, but it's on fire again because of some allegations that just came out within a few days ago and they are, they have actually searched Diddy's homes and taken a lot of his computer equipment, things like that.

35:35 It looks like the walls are caving in on Diddy. Suspected this was going to happen and sure did, I am going to do a third part to that series. I'm just kind of waiting to see what else occurs first, but I will definitely do a third part to that series to keep you updated on Diddy. So look for that. Thank you so much for listening to exposed scandalous files of the elite and until next time I'm Jim Chapman. Much love.

36:18 [Music] (upbeat music) (upbeat music)