Ron Jeremy Sex Assaults Suit Settled By Rainbow Bar & Grill; Enfeebled Porn Actor Was Not A Defendant
UPDATE, 11:19 PM: Just days after celebrating its 53rd anniversary with a 1980s rock'n'roll party, the Rainbow Bar & Grill has settled a lawsuit over sexual assaults by now enfeebled porn star Ron Jeremy on its premises.
'Counsel indicates that a settlement has been reached,' an April 15 minute order from LA Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein's courtroom. News of the agreement with the multiple Jane Does alleging that Jeremy attacked them in bathrooms and backrooms of the Sunset Strip venue in 2016 was revealed during an early morning status conference on the nearly two-year-old case.
More from Deadline
Ron Jeremy Escapes Rape Trial Due To 'Incurable Neurocognitive Decline,' Judge Says; Ex-Porn Star Faced Over 300 Years Behind Bars If Found Guilty
Ron Jeremy Indicted On 33 Sexual Assault Charges By Los Angeles DA & Grand Jury; Ex-Porn Star Pleads Not Guilty Again
Indonesia's 'Jumbo' Becomes Southeast Asia's Top-Grossing Animation
No specifics were given , but a 'substantial' amount was paid out to the plaintiffs, I'm told.
A formal dismissal hearing is now set for July 2 in the Santa Monica Courthouse.
Jeremy, who was not a defendant in this matter, was arrested in June 2020 and indicted a couple of years afo on 33 rape and sexual assault counts by the L.A. County D.A office, However, while looking at 300 years behind bars if found guilty, Jeremy's case never went to trial due to the acute case of dementia a.k.a. 'incurable neurocognitive decline.' he is afflicted with. The now 72-year-old actor was moved to a a state mental health facility in 2023 for what will likely be the rest of his life.
PREVIOUSLY, AUG 28 2023: Two women are alleging that veteran porn actor Ron Jeremy sexually assaulted them at the Rainbow Bar & Grill and are suing the Sunset Strip landmark for 'negligence in maintaining a safe environment for their female patrons.'
'Defendant Rockin' Horse, Inc. and Does 1 through 100, inclusive, knowingly allowed a sexual predator into their bar time and time again and allowed him a dungeon, the employee's restroom, for committing heinous sexual acts against Defendant's female patrons,' the August 21 complaint filed on behalf of Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in Los Angeles Superior Court against the owners of the Rainbow bluntly claims (read the lawsuit against the Rainbow Bar & Grill here).
Referencing grand jury testimony that led to Jeremy's arrest on multiple rape charges in 2020, the recent filing by Los Angeles-based firm Panish Shea Boyle Ravipudi LLP and Encino-set Nabati Law PC seeks a variety of unspecified damages for their clients arising out of the alleged March 17, 2017, attacks in the back bathroom of the rock 'n' roll hangout.
With prudent description, the complaint detailed what allegedly happened six years ago in the back of the Rainbow after Jeremy walked the duo past numerous staffers:
Once the trio reached the bathroom, Ron Jeremy followed JANE DOE 1 and JANE DOE 2 into the bathroom. Ron Jeremy attempted to solicit pictures of them that appeared like they were giving Ron Jeremy a blowjob.
JANE DOE 1 managed to escape, but JANE DOE 2 was not so lucky. Ron Jeremy continued to sexually assault JANE DOE 2 in the bathroom, putting his hands in JANE DOE 2's private areas, despite her pleas that he stop. At one point, after being in the bathroom for what felt like an eternity, and without any aid, JANE DOE 2 shouted at Ron Jeremy to stop, in hopes that Rainbow Bar staff would hear her cries.
After both JANE DOE 1 and JANE DOE 2 escaped the restroom, Ron Jeremy still continued to target them while Plaintiffs attempted to leave Rainbow Bar.
Further laying out their case against Jeremy, the plaintiffs' lawyers say, 'Rainbow Bar employees would facilitate Ron Jeremy drugging women's drinks. They note: 'One woman [referred to as Jane Doe 9 in the grand jury transcript] met Ron Jeremy at Rainbow Bar. Ron Jeremy then told the bartender to 'get her the Ron Jeremy special.''
With the heinous acts that the much-accused Jeremy is alleged to have committed in this case alone, you perhaps are wondering why the slovenly adult movie actor isn't named as a defendant in the matter along with the 1972-founded Rainbow. Well, facing over 300 years in prison if found guilty on 33 rape and sexual assault counts, 70-year-old Jeremy was deemed incompetent to stand trial earlier this year due to 'incurable neurocognitive decline.'
Judge Ronald S. Harris pulled the plug on the case, and Jeremy then was moved from downtown LA's Twin Towers Correctional Facility into a state mental health facility. Unless his condition dramatically changes, Jeremy will remain in said facility for the rest of his days.
Attempts to contact the Rainbow Bar & Grill about the suit were unsuccessful this morning. If and when we hear from the establishment, we will update this post.
If the name of firm Panish Shea Boyle Ravipudi LLP seems familiar to some it is because they represented widower Matthew Hutchins in his wrongful death suit against Alec Baldwin and others for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of indie Western Rust on October 21, 2021.
Altough Baldwin is facing a plethora of civil cases over the shooting and possible refiling of criminal charges, the Matthew Hutchins case never went to trial as the parties settled in October 2022. Among other aspects of that deal, the widower Hutchins was made an executive producer on the resurrected Rust, which finished production in Montana this spring, and is working on a documentary about his wife.
Best of Deadline
A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
Sean "Diddy" Combs: An Updated Timeline Of Charges, Allegations & Consequences The Rap Mogul Faces
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Adviser Urges Immigration Investigation Into Elon Musk's Past as "Illegal Alien"
As Elon Musk and Donald Trump's bromance experiences a rapid but totally predictable disassembly, Musk's archnemesis Steve Bannon is calling on the president to investigate the world's richest man's dubious immigration history. "They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately," Bannon told the New York Times on Thursday. He also declared that Musk should be investigated for his alleged drug habit. Bannon was a former chief strategist to Trump. He no longer holds the role in an official capacity, but remains an informal adviser and an influential voice on the American far right. Musk and Trump traded blows on their respective personal social media playgrounds this week, not long after Musk suddenly announced that his time as a "special government employee" was over. Once out of the White House, it didn't take long for things to escalate from Musk blasting the president's newly proposed spending bill, to Trump threatening to cancel Elon's billions of dollars worth of government contracts, to Musk clapping back by saying he'd cut off NASA's invaluable access to his spacecraft. Musk also really went off the rails by shouting from the rooftops of X that Trump is in the unreleased Epstein files, and then agreeing that the president should be impeached. We can only imagine the pure schadenfreude bliss that Bannon must be experiencing right now. He's made no secret of his contempt for Musk, who he's previously called a "toddler," and "not tough enough," and a "parasitic illegal alien." Some of that is probably his jealousy speaking: Musk had replaced Bannon as the president's golden boy, a role he lost when Trump kicked Bannon kicked to the curb for stealing the limelight during his first term in office. Bannon, an alleged white supremacist, has always been skeptical of Musk's sudden realignment with the MAGA movement, and has constantly chided the Silicon-Valley-liberal turned Texas-based-technocrat for not being conservative — or racist — enough. So you can bet he's making the most of Musk's downfall, capitalizing on his dubious personal immigration history. Despite his constant slandering of immigrants, the South Africa-born businessman was likely at one point an "illegal" immigrant too, overstaying on a student visa even though he'd dropped out of school to work on his startup. His brother, Kimbal, has admitted to both of them working illegally. Bannon, on top of calling for Musk's deportation, has recommended nationalizing Musk's businesses, too. "President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to be called and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight," Bannon said Thursday on an episode of his War Room podcast, as quoted by the Daily Beast. But he faces a fearsome keyboard warrior in Musk, who retaliated in a slur-bedazzled tweet: "Bannon is peak r*tard." Then he doubled down, clarifying that Bannon was, in fact, a "communist r*tard." There's clearly no love being lost between the two. Trump, for his part, is doing his best Don Draper impression. "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem," he said Friday, per CNN. More on Elon Musk: Elon Musk Declares That He's "Immediately" Cutting Off NASA's Access to Space
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bargain Hunt expert jailed for selling art to suspected Hezbollah financier
A former Bargain Hunt art expert has been jailed for two years and six months for failing to declare art he sold to a suspected financier of Hezbollah. In the first prosecution of its kind, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, admitted eight counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 of failing to make a disclosure during the course of business before his sentencing at the Old Bailey on Friday. Hezbollah is a group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK. Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri had been aware the art he had sold was to Nazem Ahmad, who had been sanctioned in 2019 by the US authorities. "These offences are so severe that only a custodial sentence can be justified," she said. The judge said: "You knew about Ahmad's suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by people like him." "Your hard work, talent and charisma has brought you a great deal of success... you knew you should not have been dealing with that man," she told the court. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said there was no evidence Ojiri supported any form of extremism but that his conduct undermined the detection of terrorist financing. Gavin Irwin, representing Ojiri, said the art expert's "humiliation is complete" with the star losing "his good name" and the "work he loves." "He'd like to apologise for undermining trust" in the art market, Mr Irwin said, adding Ojiri had been naïve. Profiting from an individual who funds terrorism is an extremely serious matter, said Cdr Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command. "Raising money for terrorism is a core part of how terrorist groups are then able to cause harm around the world," he added. Ojiri's motivation appeared "to be financial along with a broader desire to boost his gallery's reputation within the art market by dealing with such a well-known collector," said Bethan David, head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division. "This prosecution is believed to be the first of its kind, and the CPS will not hesitate to bring criminal charges against individuals who flout the law in this way." So how did an art expert, famous for appearing on UK daytime television get mixed up in funding Hezbollah? Financial investigators working in a specialised counter-terrorism unit at Scotland Yard had been tracking a series of suspicious transactions between the Middle East and London. Working with HMRC and colleagues in the Metropolitan Police's art and antiques unit, they focused on nine payments made in 2020 and 2021 by a man called Nazem Ahmad. He was sanctioned in 2019 by US authorities because he is believed to be a top donor to Lebanon-based Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political and military group, which is backed by Iran and banned as a terrorist organisation by the US and UK. Hezbollah used Ahmad, who has joint Lebanese-Belgian nationality, "to launder substantial amounts of money bound for the terrorist group", according to the US Treasury department. It claims Ahmad has longstanding ties with the illegal trade in "blood diamonds", a reference to how diamonds are sometimes used to fund armed conflict and insurgencies. US authorities are offering a $10m reward for information about Ahmad, who is thought to still be in Lebanon. Authorities in the US claim Ahmad, 60, who has a vast art collection worth millions of pounds, opened an art gallery in his home city Beirut as a front to launder money. Transactions uncovered by UK police showed that Ahmad paid nearly £140,000 for works, which he had shipped from London to Dubai and Beirut. He bought them from Ojiri, including a £20,000 painting by Icelandic artist Baldur Helgason. Ojiri founded Ramp Gallery, now known as the Ojiri Gallery, based in east London. He came to public prominence with appearances in the BBC series Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, before hitting the big time on Bargain Hunt, in 2019. He has also appeared on Channel 5's Storage: Flog the Lot! In 2021, he joined Antiques Road Trip where he scoured antique shops for treasures, competing to make the most money at auction and always wearing one of his trademark hats. By this time, he had made several secret sales of art to the Hezbollah financier. Although he was careful to keep Ahmad's name off the paperwork, officers in the National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit tracked the money to Ojiri and, in April 2023, police arrested him. On the same day the Treasury sanctioned Ahmad and banned him from travelling to the UK. The US authorities also charged Ahmad with defrauding the US and foreign governments, money laundering and sanctions evasion, claiming companies connected to him had been engaged in more than $400m worth of financial transactions between 2020 and 2022. As part of the American case, the Met police arrested a man living in Hayes, west London, for extradition to the US. Sundar Nagarajan is now awaiting trial in New York, accused of acting as Ahmad's accountant and advisor. At first, Ochuko Ojiri refused to answer police questions, but in a prepared statement he said he had no reason to believe Ahmad was a terrorist and money launderer. But evidence seized from his phone showed he had researched who Ahmad was and knew he had been sanctioned by the US. A colleague had even messaged to warn him against doing business with Ahmad. His arrest came after people working in the art market were brought into the regulated sector in 2019, meaning they were bound by anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures to report suspicious transactions or face prosecution. Presented with such damning evidence, Ojiri said he was sorry for what he had done and told police he had wanted to grow his business. He denied being motivated by greed and said it was the kudos of dealing with a name in the collecting world. Ahmad's Instagram account had 200,000 followers at that time and he was seen as a social media influencer in the art world. Ojiri was charged under a section of the Terrorism Act 2000 that has never been used before. Police hope it will send a clear message to those doing business in the art world. "You will need to make sure you are doing your due diligence," Cdr Murphy said. Last year, the National Crime Agency issued an amber alert warning that storage facilities for artwork could be used by criminals "seeking a capital asset that can be safely stored, that appreciates in value over time, and that can be liquidated if and when required". It followed the seizure of 23 paintings, worth almost £1m, from a warehouse and an auction house in London. The art, which included work by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, belonged to Ahmad. It will soon be sold off at auction as the proceeds of crime and the money raised will go to the Home Office to be used in the fight against crime.
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Boston Globe
Immigration law in the Trump era
Advertisement This isn't just bureaucratic dysfunction. It's part of a larger, deliberate strategy to undermine the legal defense of immigrants, including those who are not considered high priority for removal. The most basic tools attorneys once relied on — timely communication, reliable client locators, and even the ability to visit clients — have been rendered useless by a system apparently designed to keep everyone, lawyers included, in the dark. When the very people who defend immigrants are being blocked at every turn, what hope remains for the clients they're trying to protect? Johanna Herrero, a Boston-based attorney who has been practicing immigration law since 2011, said in an interview that federal government agents are arresting and deporting immigrants they're not supposed to be arresting and deporting, including individuals with no criminal record whatsoever and whose sole offense seems to be that they're in the country illegally. It's as if police suddenly decided to arrest and jail regular citizens for jaywalking, Herrero said. Advertisement Everybody is a priority now, Jonathan Ng, who works for Herrero's law office, told me. From May 2020 to June 2022, Ng worked for the US Department of Homeland Security's office of the principal legal advisor, serving as the government's representative in immigration removal proceedings and litigating removal cases. 'It's absurd to me. It's a waste of resources and taxpayer's dollars,' Ng said. 'It's a waste of law enforcement resources, too. Federal agencies that have nothing to do with immigration — DEA, ATF — are now doing all these things to arrest people without a criminal record.' 'I've had clients with approved Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) cases since 2018, on the path to a green card, and they're being picked up and jailed like criminals,' Herrero said. In the last few months, Herrero said that her entire office did a turnaround where 'everyone's doing bond hearings now and we're hardly even seeing new people come in with asylum claims.' Her caseload used to be around 10 percent people detained; now more than 80 percent is dealing with people in detention centers all over the country. One of the worst aspects of the current system, Herrero and Ng said, is a basic lack of communication. 'Say, a client is detained on a Saturday morning … and we can't even locate where they are for about three to four business days,' Herrero said. 'Or I'm waiting on video for my client, and they're not in that location anymore. I call and they say, 'Oh, she was transferred this morning — now she's in Texas.' Where in Texas? You're talking about 20 different possible detention centers she could be in.' Advertisement Sometimes, bond hearings — where an immigration judge decides whether a detainee can be released from custody while their immigration case is pending and, if so, sets the amount of money (bond) needed to be paid to secure their release — are scheduled and by the time the attorney shows up on the video call or in person, the client has already been deported to their home country. 'No notice. No explanation. Just gone,' Herrero said. Sometimes even showing up for the client is a challenge. 'Every judge has different rules,' Herrero said. 'We've had to fly to New Mexico and Arizona on one day's notice because video hearings were denied.' Even immigrants who are following the government's orders — like By the way, none of these government actions are necessarily illegal, Herrero said. Advertisement Traditionally, though, immigration enforcement prioritized individuals with serious criminal records or those who recently crossed the border illegally, rather than casting a wide net over everyone without legal status. This new, radical approach is akin to pulling over and ticketing every single driver who's even a couple of miles over the speed limit. It's technically possible, but unprecedented and overwhelming. The message is clear: No one is safe. For immigrants caught in an erratic system, the stakes are life-altering. And for the lawyers who defend them, the work has become an exercise in frustration and heartbreak. When the rules change overnight, and justice becomes such a moving target, what are we left with? A diminished rule of law. This is an excerpt from , a Globe Opinion newsletter from columnist Marcela García. . Marcela García is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
