Top musician David Garrett defends himself in the "Welt" against serious allegations made by his ex-girlfriend: Porn star Ashley Youdan accuses him of physical injury and abnormal sexual practices.

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Deutsche Version des Interviews / German version of the interview

His name is wreathed in superlatives. For Yehudi Menuhin, the great virtuoso on the violin, the German David Garrett was the "greatest violinist of his generation". Garrett was already a child prodigy of classical music at the age of 14. He later mixed Brahms with AC/DC, rising up as a star violinist: David Garrett became a celebrity. Since then he has always been described as "handsome", "nice", "an absolute favorite for both young and old". We meet him in a hotel in Freiburg, a few hours before his performance there.

It is an interview unlike any, as he says himself, has ever given in his life. The 35-year-old first of all told us about his relationship to US porn star Ashley Youdan, who is now suing him. She accuses Garrett of physical injury and abnormal sexual practices. Garrett will tour again in the fall – his new stage show is named "Explosive". This is certainly also true for this story, which he then tells us. Has to tell us, as he says.

David Garrett and porn star Kendall Karson whose real name is Ashley Youdan Quelle: pa/Sven Simon/Getty Images

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Die Welt: You are making it public for the first time in the “Welt" today that you had a relationship with the US porn actress Kendall Karson over a longer period of time ...

David Garrett: ... That’s her stage name. Her real name is Ashley Youdan. That’s what I always called her when we were together. I still call her that even now. I am going public, because I am being forced to. I have no other choice. She has made private things public against my will and I feel that she is blackmailing me. Ashley and I, we had been together from October 2014, she lived in my apartment in New York, where we often lived together when I was in town. I separated from her in February 2016.

Die Welt: Now she has filed a lawsuit against you through her lawyer. The most serious allegation: You forced her to have rough sex resulting in a bruised rib. Which she has documented with a photo of a bruise as well as a hospital bill with the corresponding diagnosis. She will waive this claim for a payment of twelve million US dollars. What do you have to say about this?

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Garrett: That it’s not true, it’s simply a lie. This all adds up to blackmail. I am constantly asking myself at the moment: What kind of woman is this who I was so much in love with?! And when she now adds a photo as proof, where you can see a bruise above her rib – well I am not the person who caused this bruise.

Die Welt: If it came to a trial, it would be your word against hers.

Garrett: I am not an aggressive person. Violence is simply not something I’m into. You can ask any of my previous girlfriends. I’m a calm and considerate person. Even if someone tries to have a row with me, I sit there and first of all try to to analyze everything in peace. Never in my life have I hit a woman –nor a man either by the way. Violence has always been a stranger to me.

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Die Welt: How do you explain this photo?

Garrett: My lawyers assume that this small bruise is self-inflicted. It could also have come about in some other way, but at any rate it has nothing to do with me. I remember well the moment when she told me about it: We had had sex together the night before –she showed me the bruise and said that it had come from that. However she had also been working as a pole dancer the three nights prior to this. At the time I said to her: "Listen, that can’t be true. Perhaps it came from the dancing."

Die Welt: Didn’t you take your ex-girlfriend seriously at the time?

Garrett: At the time there were no arguments or accusations because of it. We were still a couple. I have never had violent sex. Of course I have sex, but not with violence or against anyone’s will.

Die Welt: The current claim for millions, according to your lawyers, was preceded by further demands for money. The sums were lower, the principle similar. There were attempts to come to an arrangement. Why did you and your lawyers actually get involved in this?

Ashley Youdan has filed serious allegations against the violinist Quelle: WireImage

Garrett: It's easy to be wise after the event. In the meantime I’m thinking more along the lines of: You cannot negotiate with terrorists. I never reckoned with this escalation. I was the one who finished with her. She didn't want it, at the time she was sitting in front of me in my apartment in New York crying. It was difficult to make it clear to her that I had fallen out of love. She didn’t want our relationship to finish, she also didn’t want to leave my apartment – so I moved into a hotel for the time being. I also wanted to support her financially after the separation. I am a bit of a gentleman like that. I had taken her out of her old life, and I didn’t want for her to have to go back into the porn business. At the time I had offered to support her financially for the next three years. So that she could establish herself in her new job as a realtor. We had both talked about the fact that she wanted to do this training. I had supported her in this. Immediately after our separation, there were no allegations. At that time I still had the impression that we could agree in good faith. We had also recorded this in writing. This was important for her.

Die Welt: Does this mean that you regulated your separation with a contractual agreement?

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Garrett: No, we took a pen, wrote that down. I am a man of honor. I would also have continued to support her financially without this document. A few weeks later I received a letter from an American lawyer demanding money – in connection with the allegations. The financial demands kept getting bigger until I eventually said: "Hey listen, what are we talking about here?"

Die Welt: In addition to the legally enforceable claim of physical injury, your ex-girlfriend is now making accusations in the tabloid newspaper "New York Post" that she was also the victim of violent abnormal sexual practices. As these accusations have not been proven, we would not like to burden you with the details.

Garrett: That is absurd and completely contradicts my attitude to women: I have never been violent towards any woman. Everything that happened between us, was consensual, without violence and without compulsion. I will defend myself against such slander with all the legal means available to me. I will not comment further on this in public as a matter of principle.

Die Welt: In addition, the New York law firm which is representing Ashley Youdan has also sent audio recordings of intimate conversations between the two of you. Were you not aware of this at all?

Garrett: In retrospect I was naive. She had obviously been making audio recordings of intimate conversations for months, which on occasion also included arguments, jealousy, but also certain sexual fantasies. Normal discussions within a relationship. But nothing that I would like to share with in public. This is not relevant legally and otherwise not worthy of mention. She always had her cellphone with her and recorded everything. I had never noticed. Over the past few weeks I have found out about a lot of things she did behind my back. While I was traveling, she went through my private documents, took photos, also of invoices. As I now had to take note of all this, I only thought: "Violin bow me down. This can’t all be true." That someone would do this, make secret recordings of their boyfriend, is so alien to me. It’s so cold, so calculated.

Die Welt: Even if it turns out that you have nothing legally wrong, the revelations about your sexual preferences will have damaged your image as "everybody's darling" on the Stradivari.

Garrett: Why do you think I currently have difficulty falling asleep at night?

Die Welt: You have taken part in family TV programs such as “Klein gegen Groß" ("Small against Large"), where you competed against a ten-year violinist. In Sesame Street you posed with Bert and Ernie.

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Garrett: Of course I have thought about this. But we no longer live in the Middle Ages. Once again: I have done nothing illegal. Trial or no. I do not deserve to be pilloried. I would also never ask you: What do you do in your bedroom? The only reason I have to justify myself now is because I am a public figure.

David Garrett in conversation with "Welt" editor Martin Scholz Quelle: Peter Zolling

Die Welt: How did you and Ashley Youdan meet each other?

Garrett: I booked Ashley as an escort at the end of 2014 in New York, that’s how I got to know her. I had just finished a long tour, had been very busy. I felt lonely in the evening and called a reputable escort service. And ... I ordered her. However in this case not for ... well, that’s not of interest to anyone.

Die Welt: Not for sex, you mean?

Garrett: You have to make a distinction between prostitution and escort. You see, I have been on the road constantly for twelve years, at times for two, three months at a time. My social life has been very much left on the wayside. Do you want to pillory me now for the fact that I sometimes order someone from an escort service?

Die Welt: That’s not at all what I was interested in. But then this cliché – acclaimed by thousands and yet alone in the evening in New York – there is something to it, isn’t there?

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Garrett: I find an escort service less complicated, because I also need someone to listen to me every now and then. I also want to go out for a meal in the evening, when I am in New York for four or five days, at home, and know I’ll be back on tour soon. You also want to have a life somehow – whether I go to the theater or to a restaurant or even to a night club. It’s not only about sex.

Die Welt: But it's also about that, isn't it?

Garrett: Well, whether it also comes down to sex at the end is nobody’s business. However sex is not the primary reason for these meetings.

Die Welt: How did it go after the first meeting? Did you book Ashley Youdan again?

Garrett: I fell completely in love with this woman on the very first evening. We went for a meal in the evening, she was very charming, sensitive, intelligent. We immediately found a level of communication. I knew that this person understands me. Not love at first sight, but rather after the first conversation. After that evening Ashley was a private individual for me.

Die Welt: So you paid for the first evening, but no longer for the others?

Garrett: Exactly. We met privately three days later. In the following weeks I visited her parents with her near Sacramento, later I took Ashley to meet my parents in Germany.

Die Welt: That sounds as if you wanted to get married to your girlfriend? Was that what you wanted?

Garrett: We had talked about it, yes: Engagement, marriage. That was what I wanted. At Christmas 2015, she said to me that she would like proof of this on her finger, so that it was more official for her. And so I bought her a ring. I was very serious indeed. However, as I only now know unfortunately, she had obviously already started preparing a plan B in October - taking secret photographs, which she now wants to use to blackmail me. Plan A was certainly: I want to be David Garrett’s wife. And in case that didn’t work out as planned, she had prepared Plan B. For me, up until Christmas 2015 everything was straightforward. Shortly afterwards, she posted a photo of her hand with the ring on Instagram: "Happiest wife in the world." She always referred to herself as "wife", which I found a little overdone. Engaged doesn’t mean the same as married.

Die Welt: But you wanted to marry her though. Did things go too fast for you?

Garrett: I am one of those people that wants to give a relationship time. We had also had a temporary separation. I had said: “There is no need to hurry. We are living together, we see each other when I have time, why the rush?" I was very rational. I am by nature.

Die Welt: Did you feel a little bit like Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman", when he brought a prostitute played by Julia Roberts into a world of luxury?

Garrett: I couldn’t say. I have never seen the film. I have always refused to watch "Pretty Woman" whenever one of my ex-girlfriends has asked me. I always said: "Naaah". "Don’t want to. It’s too silly.”