KBM Proudly Represents Kari Krome

Kari Krome, co-founder of the 70s rock band the Runaways has named former KROQ rock DJ Rodney Bingenheimer in a sexual assault lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County. The lawsuit also names the estate of the Runaway’s manager Kim Fowley.

The suit describes a sexual assault perpetrated by Bingenheimer against Kari when she was just 13 years old. “It was through his position of authority as an adult that defendant Bingenheimer, a twenty-eight-year-old man, well-connected in the music scene, and the owner of the nightclub ‘Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco’ on Sunset Strip, groomed and exploited plaintiff, a minor, and perpetrated his sexual assaults upon her.”

Attorney Karen Barth Menzies is on Kari’s legal team. Karen says, “Rodney Bingenheimer used his English Disco as a clearinghouse for grooming under-aged girls and serving them up to rock stars – and he assaulted girls himself. Bingenheimer has enjoyed the false reputation of a sweet, innocent friend to rock stars when in reality, he was the source for the exploitation and sexual assault of underage girls.”

Some of Kari’s claims have previously been reported – first in the 2013 Runaway biography “Queens of Noise” by Evelyn McDonnell, in an in-depth article “The Lost Girls” by Jason Cherkis, and in the 2021 documentary “Look Away.” Kari was previously barred from filing suit because of statutes of limitation, but in 2019, The California Child Victims Act suspended the statutes of limitation for a three-year window that ended on December 31, 2022.

Kari’s lawsuit was filed before the deadline, but the names of the Plaintiff and the Defendants were originally listed as Jane Doe and John Does 1 and 2. Recently, Kari has decided to reveal herself as the “Jane Doe” because she wants to encourage other survivors to find the courage to stand up for themselves and hold their attackers to account.

Kari says, “I told people about these assaults when they happened, and they didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t want to hurt their careers, or they didn’t want to dispel their illusions about their idols. Years later, when others spoke up about their experiences, people tried to gaslight us about what we knew happened. Only recently are people starting to listen and take us seriously, and it is never too late to hold people accountable.”

In Kari’s case, the Court recently ruled “There is reasonable and meritorious cause for the filing of the action against Defendants Doe 1” and likewise Doe 2. The Court granted Plaintiff’s Application for Finding to Substitute and Designate True Name of Defendants Doe 1 and Doe 2” — Rodney Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley, respectively.

The lawsuit describes how Bingenheimer introduced Kari to producer Kim Fowley. “Defendant Fowley began grooming Plaintiff, talking to her about songwriting and music, and he eventually hired her as a songwriter for his publishing company.”

The lawsuit states, “Plaintiff brought the idea of an all-girl rock band to Defendant Fowley, and he had Plaintiff recruit band members. Plaintiff recruited guitarist Joan Marie Larkin, a.k.a. Joan Jett, and Defendant Bingenheimer and Defendant Fowley recruited the rest of the girls, and together they formed an all-girl band. Plaintiff also wrote numerous songs for the band, many of which Fowley took credit for, lifting Plaintiff’s ideas and words including “Cherry Bomb” (one of The Runaways’ most popular songs) taken out of Plaintiff’s journals.”

The lawsuit describes a sexual assault Kim committed against Kari when she was 14 and states, “Defendant Fowley sexually abused Plaintiff approximately six more times over the course of the next year.” Moreover, “Defendant Fowley continued to contact Plaintiff well into the 1990s, long after he pushed her out of the band’s inner circle and took songwriting credit for multiple songs written by Plaintiff.”

Attorney Karen Barth Menzies says, “Part of the tragedy – beyond the crime of sexual assault – is that Kari was driven out of the industry, and the world has been deprived of her voice and her influence on music. Kari was the mastermind behind the Runaways. Her voice was genuine and unique. She was in a position to express emotions and tell stories from experiences that other young women like her could relate to. She could have been a leader in the music industry, influencing the music we hear, and a mentor to young women entering the business. Instead, she was assaulted, abused, and discarded by Rodney Bingenheimer and Kim Fowley. Sadly, Kari is not alone in her experience with abuse and assault. It has happened to countless other young women and still does. Sexual harassment and assault continues to drive women out of the music business today.”

Kari says, “I don’t think it is okay that children and teenagers should have to pay for their careers with the currency of their bodies.”

Kim Fowley died in 2015. Karen says, “Kim Fowley’s death did not undo all the trauma he caused. Fowley’s legacy includes the rape of underaged girls, and the law finally allows survivors to seek justice. We are going to show that neither time nor age – not even death – will allow rich, powerful men in the music industry to escape the sins of their past.”

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