Blackstar

Well, I'm sure they all (Axl included) would just say that they didn't witness anything regarding the sexual harassment.

Another update: Kat's attorney filed an opposition to GN'R/Gundam's motion to dismiss parts of her lawsuit. GN'R/Gundam responded to Kat's dismiss motion by filing an amended complaint (lawsuit) and as a result Kat's motion to dismiss GN'R/Gundam's lawsuit was denied by the court as "moot". It looks like both parties' motions have been denied, but it could be a typo, because GN'R/Gundam replied to Kat's opposition yesterday. (Edit to update: GN'R's motion has indeed been denied as well - the judge has probably lost his patience with the motions and wants the case to move on). Yesterday both parties submitted a joint summary of the case and a proposed schedule (required by the court) for the next stages of the case, according to which the "discovery" stage (pre-trial depositions from witnesses and retrieval of documents) is estimated to last about a year (until February) and the jury trial (if there is one) to take place in May 2025. The main witnesses both parties have agreed to are Kat, Fernando, Bernie Githuly (the business manager in GN'R entities), and unidentified agents and employees. Kat wants the members of GN'R to testify, too. It is also stated in the document that the parties have not discussed a settlement. The document can be found here: https://www.a-4-d.com/t8097-katarina-benzova-sues-fernando-and-gn-r-for-copyright-infringement#34767

When she told the story before (her book, the Daily Mail interview promoting her book, and the Look Away documentary) she didn't talk about rape or sexual assault (at least not explicitly). That is mentioned in the preface of Axl's answer.

The answer also doesn't admit the jurisdiction of the NY state court, so I'm pretty sure the primary residence issue is for the purpose of transferring the case to another court (the NY federal court). I think that will probably happen in the next days and then the case will continue in the other court. From the answer it also looks like that as soon at it gets to the other court Axl's lawyers will try to have it dismissed on legal grounds. He has said he likes spending time in Las Vegas, so maybe he has property there, too.

If there's evidence supporting the allegations, the most likely outcome is settlement out of court, so it's highly unlikely it goes to trial either way (if there's evidence debunking the allegations or there are legal holes in the lawsuit, the case will be dismissed). And It's a civil case - hence very different than a case where there would be criminal charges - so the unlikely scenario it went to trial wouldn't necessarily depend on the evidence (it would rather suggest that there wasn't enough evidence one way or the other).

It looks the lawsuit has been withdrawn and dismissed (most likely, based on the article, there has been some sort of settlement).

Steven Tyler likewise transferred the NY lawsuit against him from NY state court to NY federal court and then filed a motion to dismiss the case based on certain legal grounds, and the court granted the motion, so the lawsuit is now dismissed (unless Jeanne Bellino, the woman who sued him, files an amended complaint that can stand legally): https://ksenam.com/ixp/295/p/steven-tyler-sexual-assault-dismissed/

I think the residence thing might be a legal manoeuvre. This lawsuit has been filed in NY state court. Defendants in lawsuits have the option to transfer a lawsuit from state to federal court (in the same area the state court is in) if certain criteria are met, and from what I've seen in other cases, most defendants prefer to do that, I guess because federal courts are considered, for various reasons, a better venue to litigate at . One of the criteria is that the two parties are citizens/residents of different states. In Axl's case, both he and Sheila Kennedy live in California, so that doesn't apply. But I wonder if Axl will present a citizenship/residence in a different state (I guess he has property in other states which he pays taxes for) so that he'll be able to transfer the case to a federal court.

I assume it was taken in 1989, because of Axl's hair and also because in another picture from the same batch, his mother looks the same as in the recently shared photo in front of the BMW.

Yes. He did audition (or at least asked to try out) before they got Scott: https://www.a-4-d.com/t4932-2003-01-03-chart-attack-can-todd-kerns-fill-axl-roses-leather-pants

I don't seem to remember this quote or its source (is it from a book?) But there's also this account of a journalist who had attended the shows at the Deer Creek as a young fan: Jake Query: [...] And it was only years later that two different people that worked on that tour from the Indianapolis side, that had worked in the promotion of it, have told me the reason that was delayed was because Axl Rose was sitting in his hotel room in Indianapolis, and all of the things of his childhood, you know, the evil stepfather – I’m not saying this flippantly... [...] Some of the, you know, alleged and apparent very bad things that happened to him as a young person came back to him, and he was sitting in his hotel room, on his bed with his legs folded, saying, “I can’t do it. I can’t go out there, I can’t go in front of... I can’t do it again.” And it took a team of people to convince him and rally him to go out there. And I remember when Axl Rose came out on the stage in that particular night, night two of that tour, he started out with kind of a diatribe against Indiana and authority in Indiana [...] Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX3tghRo6RY https://www.a-4-d.com/t4611-2000-08-25-indianapolis-star-guns-free-zone-slash#18156

Well, of course it all ultimately stems from the fact that GN'R has had very little output, I'm not denying that. I'm also not denying that people may genuinely like a leaked version more for various reasons, myself included (for example, I think that the leaked versions of Cather in the Rye, The Blues and CD title track, which were pretty much finished songs in 2000, were superior than the final versions). But I was specifically talking about leaks Vs. official releases of the same songs a while later. And there I think that the sense of enjoyment at the thought of hearing something against GN'R's will, which feels like taking something away from the band, is part of the reason for some people's preference of the leaks. Take Hard School/Hard Skool, for example, and how overwhelmingly positively the leak was received as opposed to many fans' disdain for the released version. And whatever flaws the released version may have (the drums, the mix, the school bell, etc.) just don't justify the extent of the disdain for it.

The thing is that some of the leaked stuff was commercially released eventually. Some people would say that that happened exactly because of the leaks. But, although the leaks may have played a role, to an extent, in which songs were released and in what order, in reality the band had started reworking those CD era songs before the leaks happened. I was glad that I got to hear the leaks, mostly because they were a snapshot from a time we didn't know much about. But I think the reason some fans enjoy the leaks more than the official releases is because it's something that the band didn't want us to hear, like they take pleasure at the thought of hearing something that's "forbidden".

Yeah, this also aligns with what Eddie Trunk said about it a while back. I'm curious if it's the UFO song Vanessa randomly posted on IG a while ago (Love to Love).

https://www.portlandtribune.com/lifestyle/the-dandy-warhols-30-years-old-and-still-cool-making-music-with-slash-the-pixies/article_d222f69c-cd1e-11ee-84d5-4b61ca39aa2e.html As far as Slash, Taylor-Taylor has known band members and others around Guns N’ Roses for many years. The Dandy Warhols sent him the track “I’d Like To Help You With Your Problem,” and the famous guitarist sent back his licks — blowing away Taylor-Taylor. “He came back in 40 minutes. It was done within a week or two,” Taylor-Taylor said. “That song is mostly (Black) Sabbath, Vietnam-era, LSD rock. Very straight-forward.” The creative process? “He said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘Cry Baby the Wah-Wah pedal,’” Taylor-Taylor said. “You can tell he knows exactly what we are. It’s so good. He doesn’t start shredding until the middle of the song. He’s just an absolutely visionary, he knows what he’s doing. It goes so perfectly well.” The singer added high praise of Slash, calling him the greatest living guitar player.

TWAT / Prostitute / Madagascar Monsters Catcher In The Rye (the demo would be higher) Perhaps (would be higher if it had a different second verse) Hard Skool Sorry Chinese Democracy Street Of Dreams Better Absurd The General I.R.S. If The World This I Love (beautiful melody, but the lyrics...) Oh My God Shackler's Revenge Rhiad Scraped

We don't know exactly when he quit smoking (cigarettes), but it was somewhere between 1994/95 and 2000. He was smoking cigars after that, not sure if/when he stopped that.

Served again, in the same way (by affixing to door) : 01/19/2024 at 5:31 PM - Attempt to serve, unsuccessful. No entry, gated residence. I pressed the available call-button but no response. I spoke with a neighbor who informed me that a resident by the name of Beta resides there, I asked about the subject "Rose" and they did not want to disclose further information. https://smallpdf.com/file#s=cdad326e-c372-4d3d-a739-faa44f523bd3

He's just trolling.

I like it. But... AI-produced music video? Who does that?

At the time they said they left, but they were actually dropped.

VR were dropped from the label after they fired Scott Weiland.

Yes, it was in early 1988: FEBRUARY 12-13, 1988: AXL IS FIRED FROM THE BAND IN PHOENIX (The History of GN'R as Told by GN'R - a-4-d.com)

Yes, that's what I think, too.