Steven Tyler, Axl Rose and ‘lots and lots of others’: Rock stars and the abuse hidden in plain sight
“There are so many stories,” says Sophie Cunningham, wearily. “So many I was just not able to tell, and that’s because of money and power – success and celebrity goes a hell of a long way to keeping people quiet.”
Cunningham is the director and producer of a new documentary confronting the music industry’s dark side, rock music in particular; harassment and abuse against women and “relationships” involving megastars and teenage girls, an issue that was hidden in plain sight for years.
Look Away features interviews with women who make allegations against Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Guns ‘N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, as well as the late music producer and songwriter Kim Fowley, who managed all-female teen rock group The Runaways, co-founded by Joan Jett in the 1970s. But Cunningham says there could have been many more.
Axl Rose of Guns ‘N’ Roses performing in Chicago in 1988. Pic: Gene Ambo/MediaPunch/IPX/AP
Post #MeToo, Hollywood and the film industry has had the start of its reckoning after disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein was jailed for rape and sexual assault in 2020, although it seems sadly inevitable that there is more to come.
For the music industry, says Cunningham, who worked on Look Away for two years, we have only seen the tip of the iceberg. To clarify, the allegations made by other women she couldn’t feature in the documentary – she’s talking about “lots and lots of [stars] who are very, very popular”.
Look Away shines a light on how the music industry fostered a culture where relationships with underage girls – statutory rape – were normalised, and how many behind the scenes turned a blind eye to aggressive sexual behaviour.
“It seems like an area that hasn’t yet had its #MeToo moment and I think desperately requires it,” says Cunningham.
Julia Holcomb’s story is well documented, despite the fact she never wanted to share it – it was Tyler himself who first brought the story to light, writing about their relationship in his 2011 autobiography.
Holcomb met the Aerosmith frontman as a fan at a gig in Portland, Oregon, when she was just 16 and he was in his mid-20s in 1973.
Because the age of consent in the state was 18, she claims Tyler persuaded her mother to sign over guardianship to him, making her his ward, so she could travel with the star on tour. She also claims she became pregnant with his baby, and was forced into having an abortion.
Through the lens of 2021, laid out in black and white, it all seems pretty shocking. But perhaps more shocking is that for years, this kind of behaviour wasn’t at all shocking.
“I think a lot of the times the artists themselves have written about their escapades with their girlfriends or what they got up to during this era and you never really hear from the women,” says Cunningham.
“Musicians were these godlike creatures, especially at that time. There were power structures that enabled them; as long as they were selling records and as long as they were making money for the big record companies, I think there was a general understanding [they] could pretty much get away with anything and also it could all just be written up as an excess of the time.
“It’s very, very easy to think ‘It was different then, it was hedonistic, the world was a different place’. But I think it’s clear from the women who’ve spoken out that their experiences as [teenage] girls impacted them in the same way that they would if it happened to [teenagers] now. It’s not a different era, it’s just that we look at it differently.”
Sheila Kennedy is another woman featured in the documentary, speaking about an experience with Axl Rose in the late 1980s when she was 18. Kennedy was a Penthouse “Pet of the Year” and says she was invited back to a party at a hotel suite with the star. She accuses of him of physically abuse – grabbing her hair and dragging her – before they had sex.
(L-R): Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Jackie Fox (Fuchs) and Lita Ford of The Runaways, pictured in 1976. Pic: Kipa/Shutterstock
Jackie Fuchs, bassist with The Runaways – who was known as Jackie Fox at the time – also shares her story, accusing Fowley, the band’s manager, of rape, and detailing how people ignored it at the time.
Speaking out like this is not necessarily about seeking justice in the legal sense, says Cunningham, but having a voice – and trying to instigate change.
“Although we are focusing on a certain era in this film, the music industry is still functioning in a very, very similar way,” she says. “I spoke to so many music industry insiders who made it quite clear that nothing has changed. [The documentary] looks at an era I think we all feel very fondly towards, but we need to look at it in a different way. You don’t want to take away from [the music] but you have to recognise that other things were at play.
“All of the women in the film are incredible women in the sense they’re forgiving and they aren’t ‘out to get’ these rock stars. It’s about setting the record straight. For many of them, it’s a personal reckoning. I don’t think it’s a case of wanting to get their own back or tearing anyone down… It’s actually not about the rock stars at all, it’s about these women and it’s about them being heard – so that people don’t just make the assumptions that I think a lot of people make about some of these women.”
Look Away director Sophie Cunningham says she hopes the documentary can play a part in starting to instigate change. Pic: Johnny Stafford
Post #MeToo, Cunningham says the world is hopefully finally ready to listen: “Culturally, we’re all thinking in a different way. I think that there hasn’t been an opportunity or a hunger until now to actually hear these stories in a way that challenges our ideas of what the rock scene was.
“So many people, when you tell them you’re making a film like this, they’re like ‘Oh, no, please don’t’ – and then they name their favourite rock star because they don’t want that musician or that music to be ruined for them. This music is so deeply embedded in our lives, I think sometimes people don’t want to [acknowledge] there can be a darker side.”
Cunningham says there were many men who worked behind the scenes who did not want to take part in the documentary. “I think that’s important thing to say,” she says. “That silence, I think, speaks volumes. So although we’re in a time that we’ve been ready for these women to speak and they feel like they have the power to speak, there are lots of men who don’t want to speak out in support of these women for fear of the repercussions in the industry.”
Representatives for Tyler and Rose did not respond to requests to comment or be featured in the documentary by the filmmakers, says Cunningham. Nor did they respond to requests for comment from Sky News.
Cunningham says she likes to think there might come a time when musicians, or any public faces, who behaved in a certain way when it was normalised years ago, want to acknowledge mistakes and help bring about change.
“Wouldn’t you want to speak out and support these women?” she says. “Yes, accusations are being made about you, but maybe speaking out can actually, not redeem you because obviously all of these things have happened, but wouldn’t it be incredible if a rock star came forward and said ‘I did some really bad things and I know I hurt people and I want to campaign for change in support of these women?’ I think that would be incredible.
“But I think silence is just an example of what many people have been doing for years. As I said, there were so many people I approached to be in this film who are prominent men within the music industry, offering them the opportunity to speak out in support of women, about a time that they were part of, and so many people didn’t want to do that. And I think that silence speaks volumes, doesn’t it?”
Look Away premieres on Sky Documentaries and NOW on Monday 13 September at 9pm
Entertainment
Former London’s Burning actor John Alford guilty of sexually assaulting girls aged 14 and 15
Former London’s Burning actor John Alford has been found guilty of sexually assaulting girls aged 14 and 15 at a friend’s home.
Jurors heard the 53-year-old, who rose to fame in BBC show Grange Hill, sexually assaulted the girls while they were drunk following a night out at the pub.
St Albans Crown Court was told he bought £250 worth of food, alcohol and cigarettes from a nearby petrol station in the early hours of the morning, including a bottle of vodka which the victims subsequently drank.
Alford then had sexual intercourse with the 14-year-old girl in the garden of the home and later in a downstairs toilet, and inappropriately touched the 15-year-old girl as she lay half asleep on the living room sofa.
He denied four counts of sexual activity with the younger girl and charges of sexual assault and assault by penetration relating to the second teenager at a property in Hertfordshire on April 9 2022.
But, after 13 hours of deliberations, he was found guilty.
As a firefighter in one of his most famous roles. File pic: PA
Alford, of Holloway, north London, who was charged under his real name John Shannon, had previously told the court the allegations were a “set-up”.
He put his head in his hand and shouted “Wrong, I didn’t do this” from the dock as the verdicts were read out in court.
‘I didn’t want sex with an old man’
During the week-long trial, Alford, who cried while giving evidence, told jurors “I never touched either of them girls”, adding there was “no DNA” evidence and that he would stand by his denial “until the day I die”.
However, the 15-year-old girl said: “We were all just like dozing off. That was when John started to touch me.”
Asked how she felt after the assault, the girl said: “Sick. I felt absolutely sick. I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
In a video of her police interview played to the court, the 14-year-old girl said she had never had sex before the night of the alleged incidents.
“I told him to stop because I didn’t want to have sex with an old man,” she said.
Legendary fashion designer Giorgio Armani has died aged 91 – with the worlds of fashion and showbiz paying tribute to a “giant” and a “master of his craft”.
The Italian billionaire died at home surrounded by his family on Thursday.
“With infinite sorrow, the Armani Group announces the passing of its creator, founder, and tireless driving force: Giorgio Armani,” his fashion house said.
Tributes flood in for Armani – as it happened
“Il Signor Armani, as he was always respectfully and admiringly called by employees and collaborators, passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones.
“Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections, and the many ongoing and future projects.”
A funeral chamber will be set up at Milan’s Armani Teatro for people to pay tribute between 9am and 6pm this weekend.
At the end of his autumn-winter show at Milan Fashion Week in January this year. Pic: Reuters
Armani did not appear at his runway shows in Milan for the first time ever in June as he recovered from an unknown illness.
Only a week ago, when he was interviewed by the Financial Times, he revealed he “oversaw every aspect of the show remotely via video link”.
“My greatest weakness is that I am in control of everything,” he told the newspaper. “Everything you will see has been done under my direction and carries my approval.”
‘A symbol of the best of Italy’
Italy’s President Giorgia Meloni was among the first to pay tribute.
“Giorgio Armani leaves us at 91 years old,” she wrote on X.
“With his elegance, sobriety, and creativity, he was able to bring lustre to Italian fashion and inspire the entire world. An icon, a tireless worker, a symbol of the best of Italy. Thank you for everything.”
At the Royal Academy in London in 2003. Pic: Reuters
Fellow fashion mogul Donatella Versace followed, saying: “The world has lost a giant today. He made history and will be remembered forever.”
American designer Ralph Lauren said he “always had the deepest respect and admiration” for Armani.
Dame Anna Wintour, who this year stepped down as head of American Vogue after 37 years, said the designer “understood power and attitude and elegance as well as anyone ever has in fashion”.
Julia Roberts, who famously wore Armani menswear to the Golden Globe awards in 1990, shared a picture of the pair together on Instagram with the caption: “A true friend. A Legend.”
American model Cindy Crawford called him a “master of his craft” – while the Italian football world also offered its condolences.
Juventus described him as a “timeless icon of elegance and Italian style”.
Inter Milan, who Armani supported, said he was “an icon of our city, a fashion legend who, with his creativity and elegance, knew how to tell the story of Italianness around the world”.
Legendary film director Martin Scorsese also paid tribute, heralding Armani as “more than a clothing designer”.
“He was a real artist, and a great one – people use the term ‘timeless’ quite often, but in his case it happens to be true,” said Scorsese.
Armani contributed to the wardrobe design for the director’s 1995 film Casino, creating suits for Robert De Niro’s character, Ace Rothstein.
The pair came together again for The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), where Armani this time suited up Leonardo DiCaprio.
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‘Colossus’ Armani ‘brought gravitas’ to the fashion industry
‘King Giorgio’
Born in the small northern Italian town of Piacenza in July 1934, Armani originally wanted to be a doctor but changed his mind after a part-time job as a window dresser at a Milan store exposed him to fashion for the first time.
As one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, he is often credited with spearheading red carpet fashion and was planning a major event during Milan Fashion Week this month to mark 50 years of his brand.
He put Italian ready-to-wear style on the map in the late 1970s with his signature ‘Armani suit’ before adapting its classic style for women with the launch of the female ‘power suit’ in the 1980s.
He also dressed Hollywood and music stars, including Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Lady Gaga.
Read more:
From Gere to Gaga: Armani’s best celebrity looks
With actors Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton in 2003. Pic: Reuters
With Robert De Niro in Milan in 2000. Pic: Reuters
With singer Beyonce in 2003. Pic: Reuters
With David Beckham in Milan in 2009. Pic: Reuters
Armani, or Re Giorgio (King Giorgio) as he was widely known, worked on more than 200 films, most notably earlier in his career on American Gigolo with Richard Gere in 1980.
He was awarded both the French Legion of Honour and Italian Order of Merit for Labour for his contributions to the fashion industry.
With an empire of more than £7.44bn at the time of his death, his work expanded beyond clothes to home furnishings, perfumes, books, flowers, bars, clubs, and restaurants.
He also owned the basketball team EA7 Armani Milan, better known as Olympia Milano.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Armani sparked controversy in 2015 for comments he made about fashion choices among gay men – and previously in 2009 when his company was forced to settle with the Italian tax authorities over its offshore subsidiaries.
Entertainment
‘Ketamine Queen’ Jasveen Sangha pleads guilty to supplying fatal dose that killed Friends star Matthew Perry
A woman known as the “Ketamine Queen” has officially pleaded guilty to selling Friends star Matthew Perry the drug that killed him.
Jasveen Sangha initially denied the charges but agreed to change her plea in a signed statement in August, just a few weeks before she had been due to stand trial.
The 42-year-old , a dual citizen of the US and the UK, has now appeared in a federal court in Los Angeles to plead guilty to five charges, including supplying the ketamine that led to Perry‘s death.
She faces up to 65 years in prison after admitting one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
Prosecutors agreed to drop three other counts related to the distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of methamphetamine that was unrelated to the Perry case.
In a brief statement when the plea deal was announced, her lawyer Mark Geragos said she was “taking responsibility for her actions”.
The judge is not bound to follow any terms of the plea agreement, but prosecutors have said they will ask for less than the maximum possible sentence.
Perry died aged 54 in October 2023. He had struggled with addiction for years, but released a memoir a year before his death during a period of being clean.
He had been using ketamine through his regular doctor as a legal, but off-label, treatment for depression, but in the weeks before his death had also started to seek more of the drug illegally.
Perry bought large amounts of ketamine from Sangha, including 25 vials for $6,000 (£4,458) in cash four days before his death, prosecutors said.
Read more:
The Hollywood drugs network exposed by Perry’s death
Obituary: The one who made everyone laugh
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What Perry’s death says about Hollywood
Sangha, described by prosecutors as the “Ketamine Queen of North Hollywood”, is now the fifth and final person to plead guilty to charges connected to the supply of drugs to the Friends star.
The actor’s live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, an acquaintance Erik Fleming, and a physician, Mark Chavez, all agreed to plead guilty when the charges were announced in August 2024.
Another doctor, Salvador Plasencia, initially pleaded not guilty and had been due to face trial alongside Sangha, but changed his plea in July.
Sangha and Plasencia had been the primary targets of the investigation.
The three other defendants: Chavez, Iwamasa and Fleming pleaded guilty in exchange for their co-operation, which included statements implicating Sangha and Plasencia.
Perry had bought ketamine from Sangha after he was led to her by Fleming, prosecutors said.
On the day of Perry’s death, Sangha told Fleming they should delete all the messages they had sent each other, according to Sangha’s indictment.
Sangha is due to be sentenced on 10 December.
The other four defendants are also still awaiting sentencing.
Perry was one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing in Friends – which ran on NBC between 1994 and 2004.
He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for all 10 seasons of the show.
The Friends stars were among around 20 mourners who attended his funeral in November 2023, according to TMZ.
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