The Runaways’ Kari Krome has partly settled the sexual assault lawsuit she filed against Kim Fowley’s Estate.
The filing was made in May 2023, and saw the songwriter sue the estate of Fowley and former KROQ DJ and club owner Rodney Bingenheimer for sexual assault of a minor.
In the suit, Krome alleged that the two of them each groomed and sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager.
Fowley – who rose to prominence in the ’60s after working with big name acts including KISS and Alice Cooper – passed away in 2015 at the age of 75. Bingenheimer is still alive and has denied the allegations.
Now, according to Rolling Stone, Krome has reached a partial settlement with Fowley’s estate.
The outlet reports that a hearing on the proposed pact is scheduled for January 14 and will be held in a probate court. It also states that a jury trial for the remainder of the case is set to be held on March 30.
In her 2023 filing, Krome – real name Cari Lee Mitchell – alleged that both Fowley and Bingenheimer had sexually assaulted her when she was 13. She also claimed that Fowley – who was two decades older than her – went on to sexually assault her at least six more times when she was between 14 and 15.
“You can come to a conclusion or think that something isn’t right, but if you’re speaking on something too soon, a lot of times you’ll get nothing but blowback, and you have to wait until the time is right,” she told Rolling Stone at the time.
“I never shut up about it. Just nobody wanted to hear it. Nobody seemed to care. We’re still looking at these characters through a lens of glamorisation of that era and that scene instead of looking at them through a lens of doing things that are criminal.”
Accusations of sexual assault were raised against Fowley in 2015 too, when The Runaways bassist Jackie Fuchs came forward and accused him of rape in a piece published by the Huffington Post.
Fowley recruited The Runaways in 1975 by placing an advertisement in Los Angeles fanzine Who Put the Bomp. He would go on to produce their self-titled debut album the following year, and co-write their hit single ‘Cherry Bomb’.
Krome’s attorney Karen Menzies said back in 2023 that his “death did not undo all the trauma he has caused”, and added that they were wanting to show that “neither time nor old age, not even death, will allow rich, powerful men in the music industry to escape the sins of their past”.
Bingenheimer – who was famous for his role at KROQ and as the owner of the English Disco – continues to deny accusations of wrongdoing raised by Krome. NME has reached out to him for comment regarding the settlement
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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