A journalist has claimed that Courtney Love groped him without his consent after an interview.
Frank Elaridi, a journalist and podcaster, spoke about the alleged incident during an episode of his podcast, Quite Frankly.
Thursday’s edition (18 May) of the show, titled “Cancelled to Resurrected”, featured Elaridi in conversation with musician Nahko Bear, who was accused of sexual misconduct in 2020.
After discussing an incident in which Bear was alleged to have grabbed a woman’s breast without her consent (he denies doing so), Elaridi recalls an interaction with Hole frontwoman, Love.
“I did an interview like six years ago, with Courtney Love, I still have the photo,” he begins.
“I think I was like 24 or something at the time – naive. They send me to Coachella to go do an interview with her. I’m at her afterparty, interviewing her in a side room, and then she’s like, ‘Come hang out with us!’”
Elaridi claims that when they posed together later for a picture, he was “caught off guard” when Love touched him inappropriately.
“And the second [the] photo’s done, she grabs my crotch, like, really hard,” he said.
“I was caught off guard. There’s literally a photo ‘cause somebody across the room snapped it [and] sent it to me.”
The podcast, which is also available to watch as a video, then displays the photo in question, showing Love and Elaridi posed together. Love can be seen with her hand over Elaridi’s crotch, while he pulls a surprised facial expression.
In response, Bear asks: “So you’re gonna cancel her?”
“That’s what I’m saying. That would never cross my mind to be like, let me go after her now, 10 years later,” Elaridi responded.
“She’s a rock star in my head. Not to justify [her behaviour] or say it’s OK, but in my head, that would never cross my mind to do that.”
The Independent has reached out to representatives of Courtney Love for comment.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.
