Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s accuses Rodney Bingenheimer of sexual assault
Jane Weidlin, the guitarist from the Los Angeles pop-rock band The Go-Go’s, has alleged that former radio DJ and club manager Rodney Bingenheimer sexually assaulted her while she was a teenager.
The newly filed report states that Wiedlin was 15 at the time of the alleged incident, while Bingenheimer was 27. Wiedlin’s statement claims the DJ cornered her in a back room of his Los Angeles club, Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco, before rubbing his crotch against hers until he climaxed.
“I didn’t know what to do; I was pretty much frozen,” Wiedlin told Rolling Stone in her new statement. “I didn’t say anything; I didn’t try to stop him.”
Wiedlin’s accusations follow a string of similar claims against the DJ. Bingenheimer most famously hosted a show on KROQ from 1976 to 2017 and still runs a weekly radio show on SiriusXM’s ‘Underground Garage’ channel.
In her statement to Rolling Stone, Wiedlin said her feelings toward Bingenheimer as an early champion of The Go-Go’s are conflicted. “The guy’s a fucking monster, but then he also helped us,” she said. “The Go-Go’s got our first exposure because of Rodney.”
“I should have said no [that night], but I didn’t. It wasn’t anything I asked for, but at the same time, I wanted to be a sexy young adult or whatever. It’s very tangly in my mind.
“At this stage, I think, ‘Fuck that guy.’ That was wrong. Even if I had asked him to do something, which I didn’t, it wouldn’t have been right. It was illegal and immoral.”
Bingenheimer is yet to comment on Wiedlin’s allegations.
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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