The Gaslamp Killer (born William Bensussen) has issued a lengthy statement regarding the defamation lawsuits he filed last fall against two women. In an October 2017 statement posted on Twitter, Chelsea Tadros alleged that Bensussen met her and her friend RaeAn Medina in 2013 at a Los Angeles hotel, drugged them, took them back to his apartment, and then raped them. Bensussen denied all of the allegations, asserting that the sexual encounter was consensual. He filed lawsuits against both women in November; his suit against Medina was dismissed in March. The lawsuit against Tadros is ongoing.

Writing on Facebook yesterday, Bensussen said, “In suing Tadros, I am not trying to silence her. In fact, I am hoping to open a dialogue in which to examine this event in front of a judge and jury, rather than trial by social media.” He added, “It is important to note that no criminal charges were brought against me, and that I am the only person accused of this type of assault during the me too movement to bring a defamation suit against my accuser and be granted a trial.” (Crystal Castles’ Ethan Kath filed a defamation lawsuit against former bandmate Alice Glass last fall after she posted a statement on her website claiming that he abused and assaulted her. The case was effectively dismissed earlier this year and did not go to trial.)

Bensussen also shared several legal documents to accompany his statement, including the testimony of a lawyer and toxicologist (who called Tadros’ account “virtually impossible,”) and the accounts of two witnesses. The first witness is an alleged friend of RaeAn Medina who claims that Bensussen “was always in my line of vision” on the night of the alleged sexual assault and did not drug any drinks. The second witness is one of Bensussen’s roommates at the time of the alleged assault; he claims that the two women “did not appear or sound distraught, troubled, incapacitated, or drugged in any way” when they were at the apartment. He also shared the ruling of Judge Joanne O'Donnell, who determined that Bensussen has enough evidence that he did not drug or assault the women to establish “minimal merit” to continue with the defamation suit against Tadros. Erica Kim, Tadros’ lawyer, responded to Bensussen’s statement with the below rebuttal.

In his statement from yesterday, Bensussen wrote, “Furthermore, Medina has not affirmed nor corroborated Tadros’ accusations.” However, one piece of Judge O’Donnell’s ruling seems to contradict that: a quote from an email that Medina sent to a journalist when asked about Bensussen’s October 2017 statement in response to Tadros’ allegations. She wrote, “I have seen the statement. I think it is disgusting and pathetic. The only thing that is clear in his statement is that he’s admitting to the fact that he was there and that it happened. There was no ‘offer’ and since Chelsea and I were incapacitated, obviously zero consent.”

When contacted by Pitchfork, Bensussen's lawyer Parag Amin said, “Medina did not affirm or corroborate Tadros's allegations under oath in her court filings even though she had multiple opportunities to do so.”

“There is overwhelming evidence that Chelsea Tadros fabricated her claims about my client, and that is why Judge Joanne O'Donnell ruled that the case should proceed to trial. We look forward to seeing justice prevail.”

Karen Henry, RaeAn Medina's lawyer, said “Ms. Medina has no comment on Mr. Bensussen’s most recent post. She is gratified that the Court agreed with the arguments in her anti-SLAPP motion, dismissed Mr. Bensussen’s claim against her with prejudice, and entered a judgment declaring her the prevailing party entitled to recover her attorneys’ fees and costs from Mr. Bensussen. Beyond the arguments in the pleadings Ms. Medina filed and the Court’s order and judgment, Ms. Medina has no further comment.”