Sunset Strip's Rainbow Bar let Ron Jeremy assault women in its bathroom, lawsuit alleges
Two women have filed suit against the Rainbow Bar & Grill, claiming the famed West Hollywood watering hole routinely allowed porn actor Ron Jeremy to drug and sexually assault women in a private bathroom.
The women, both anonymous in the lawsuit, said they were forcibly touched by Jeremy in the middle of the bar on March 17, 2017, even though the bar was already aware of similar conduct in the past by Jeremy.
Jeremy, 70 — whose legal name is Ronald Hyatt — was found incompetent to stand trial due to "severe dementia" this year after he was indicted on more than 30 counts of sexual assault stemming from allegations from 20 women. His alleged misconduct dated back to the 1990s.
Five of the 30 alleged sexual assaults took place at the Rainbow Bar, according to transcripts from the grand jury, the lawsuit said.
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"Ron Jeremy was known to sexually assault women at Rainbow Bar," wrote attorneys Nadine Khedry and Michelle Nabati in the lawsuit. "Rainbow Bar and Grill employees would give permission and would knowingly allow Ron Jeremy to use the employees' restroom to sexually assault female patrons."
The two women met Jeremy within 10 minutes of their arrival at the bar, the suit claims. He bought them a few drinks and offered to take pictures with them.
Photos from the bar's Yelp page show Jeremy with different women at the bar.
The women alleged that Jeremy tried to get them to kiss each other, but they declined. Then, the porn actor said, "Let me show you something, something cool," and put his hand under one of the women's pants and touched her genitals, according to the lawsuit.
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He then moved the other woman's shirt to expose her breast and said, "You should be showing these off," the suit says.
When they said they needed to use the restroom, Jeremy offered the women "his own personal private bathroom" that they could use, according to the lawsuit. Jeremy followed the two women into the bathroom and "attempted to solicit pictures of them that appeared like they were giving Ron Jeremy [oral sex]."
One woman ran out, but Jeremy continued to forcibly touch the other woman's genitals in the bathroom over her objections, the suit claims.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 21, alleges negligence against the Rainbow Bar and its parent company, Rockin' Horse Inc., and is seeking unspecified damages.
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The Rainbow Bar is a Sunset Strip establishment next to the Roxy Theatre known historically for its celebrity clientele. John Belushi ate his final meal there before he died at the Chateau Marmont in 1982, and Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe are said to have met on a blind date at the bar when it was still known as the Villa Nova.
A bar employee did not respond to a request for comment and declined to make a manager available to speak with The Times.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
