HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Rock star Gene Simmons has taken legal action against an ESPN employee who claims he sexually assaulted her.
In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Simmons asked the court for a judicial declaration that no assault took place and that ESPN makeup artist Victoria Jackson did not suffer any damages or injuries attributable to him.
Jackson's allegations stem from an ESPN SportsCenter appearance Simmons made last November with KISS drummer, Eric Singer. Two months after the visit, Simmons says he received a letter from an attorney representing Jackson, assusing him of "humping" Jackson "to the extent that she could feel [him]…grinding into her," and that as a result she "suffered from humiliation, shame, embarrassment, anger, anxiety, loss of sleep and depression."
In a follow-up email to Simmons' attorney, Barry E. Mallen of the Los Angeles law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Jackson's lawyer demanded that Simmons pay $185,000 by May 14 in order to avoid a lawsuit.
In his complaint, Simmons contends that he was in full costume during his ESPN visit, ruling out the possibility of an assault. The rocker argues the "heavy costume is like a suit of armor, particularly around his groin area, making it impossible for Simmons to have done the kind of grinding that Jackson claims to have experienced."
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