Yesterday, news broke that Lorin Ashton, aka Bassnectar, has been hit with a lawsuit related to allegations of sexual abuse that surfaced last year.
The plaintiffs, Rachel Ramsbottom and Alexis Bowling, say they were sexually abused as minors by Bassnectar. The lawsuit also asserts Bassnectar engaged in sex trafficking and possessing child pornography.
Today, Bassnectar’s lawyer Mitchell Schuster, said to TMZ, “These outrageous claims — which were clearly designed for the media, rather than for the courts — are completely without merit, and we eagerly look forward to proving so.”
Court documents obtained by TMZ say Bassnectar first came in contact with the two young women on social media and groomed Rachel and Alexis into having sexual relationships with him when they were minors.
According to the filings, Bassnectar learned the girls were underage in DMs prior to sending them tickets to his shows. He then allegedly invited them back to his hotel room for sex, and he “mandated be without the use of a condom.”
Rachel claims she was first contacted by the DJ/producer in 2012 and began having sex with Bassnectar in May 2013, while underage. She also says he solicited her to “take and send sexually explicit photographs of herself while naked.”
Alexis claims she was contacted by Bassnectar in 2014 and had numerous sexual encounters with him between 2014 and 2016, while underage.
The lawsuit says Bassnectar paid the girls for sex in amounts ranging from $300 to $1,600.
In addition, Rachel and Alexis were both allegedly instructed to watch American Beauty, described as “a movie about an older man having a relationship with a young girl.”
Law firms in Philadelphia and Nashville have filed a joint lawsuit against Bassnectar and his various management companies and ventures — Amorphous Music, Inc., Bassnectar Touring, Inc., Redlight Management, Inc., C3 Presents, L.L.C, and Interactive Giving Fund.
Bassnectar left the music industry after sexual abuse claims surfaced in 2020, many of which are detailed here.
Read more about the lawsuit here.
