According to Exclaim!, producer/DJ William Benjamin Bensussen, better known by his stage name the Gaslamp Killer was accused of drugging and raping two women four years ago. The assault allegedly took place at the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles on July 5, 2013. One of the victims, Chelsea, claims that she and her friend RaeAn were drugged by Bensussen, who then forcibly had non-consensual sex with them while they were debilitated. Chelsea claims to have never met the DJ before their grave encounter, while her friend RaeAn was recognized by the artist from when they met the previous week at a festival.
Chelsea came forward to tell her story via Twitter in the hopes of empowering other women who have been abused and making Bensussen take responsibility for his actions. In her posts, she shares a screenshot of a direct message from Bensussen on Instagram contacting her friend about her accusations, expressing that he is already attempting to cover up his alleged crime. Her tweeted story reads, “He knows what he did and I’m sure he’s been wondering when this day would come. RaeAn and I have had to deal with the shame for 4 years, and it’s time he face it too.” Read her full story below.
The Gaslamp Killer was scheduled to perform at the Low End Theory party at Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (BEMF) tonight. BEMF has announced they have cancelled tonight’s show. Bensussen has just responded to these allegations, see his statement below.
As mentioned by Pitchfork, when asked why she is coming forward now, Chelsea responded with the following statement:
“i’m coming forward because i need to move on. i never wanted it to be real. i never wanted to be a victim. it was eating at me every day and i would push it as far back as i could. it felt like a constant weight on my shoulders. i would have to see his face on social media or at events and want to scream at the top of my lungs “do you guys know this guy raped me and my best friend?” i finally was able to process that it wasn’t my fault, i’m not less of a person for what happened to me.
i needed to confront it for the sake of my mental health and for the sake of other women. women need to feel safe coming forward with their stories of abuse and if this helps to normalize it and make other women feel safer, the pain from having to relive it in telling it is 100% worth it. i’m not sure what exactly sparked it, but i finally felt strong enough to see myself as a survivor and not as a victim. i truly hope this helps others confront and move on from their own experiences of sexual assault.”
UPDATE (11/13): According to Pitchfork, William Bensussen (aka The Gaslamp Killer) has filed a lawsuit against the two women who accused him of rape, as well as a third person. The complaint is in response to the post by a woman named only as “Chelsea” who says that the popular DJ drugged and raped her and her friend in 2003 after a party.
The complaint documents were obtained by Pitchfork and TMZ. In them, Bensussen has countered that the encounter was consensual and the allegations were “malicious and fabricated.”
Photo Credit: Brett Padelford
Leave a Comment