Go-Go's Guitarist Jane Wiedlin Claims Influential Rock DJ Sexually Abused Her as a Teen [View all]

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Rodney Bingenheimer was known as a leader of the L.A. scene for years.

Go-Go’s Guitarist Jane Wiedlin Claims Influential Rock DJ Sexually Abused Her as a Teen
Six women now accuse famed former KROQ DJ and club owner Rodney Bingenheimer of molesting them when they were underage

BY ETHAN MILLMAN/Rolling Stone

F our years before she co-founded the beloved New Wave group the Go-Go’s, guitarist Jane Wiedlin was about 15 years old living with her parents in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. It was around 1974, and she was enamored with glam-rock titans like David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Looking to get as close to the music as possible, she went to the hottest club in L.A.: Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco.

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Wiedlin and several other high school friends — among those who christened themselves the “Hollywooders” — hung out there frequently, sneaking out of their parents’ homes to drive to West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip and changing into their club outfits behind the Disco outside. One night, Wiedlin alleges, the club’s eponymous owner — the famed former KROQ DJ and rock-star liaison Rodney Bingenheimer — approached her, isolated her in one of the club’s back rooms, and sexually assaulted her.

“I remember [the room] being very dark and cold,” Wiedlin tells Rolling Stone. “I was a virgin. I didn’t have much experience with boys; boys tended to ignore me…. He picked me out that night. I didn’t know what was going to happen before, but he started rubbing against me with his crotch against my crotch. I didn’t know what to do; I was pretty much frozen. I didn’t say anything; I didn’t try to stop him.”

Wiedlin alleges that Bingenheimer, who would have been around 27, told her to remove her belt as it was “getting in the way,” at which point she claims he continued to rub his crotch against her before he ejaculated on her clothes. (Wiedlin wrote about the experience during a chapter of X vocalist John Doe’s 2016 book, Under the Big Black Sun. Bingenheimer wasn’t named at the time, though Wiedlin confirms to Rolling Stone she was writing about the DJ.)

Full link: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/go-gos-jane-wiedlin-sexually-abused-famous-dj-1234921800/