Legendary punk rock guitarist Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols has denied allegations of sexual assault made by a B.C. woman.
The plaintiff, known only as A.B. in the April 24, 2024, B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, alleges Stephen Philip Jones, 68, sexually assaulted her in his downtown Vancouver hotel room in 1980 when she was 14.
“The defendant Stephen Philip Jones did not sexually assault the plaintiff as alleged, or in any manner,” said Jones' response, filed May 29 by Vancouver lawyer Marilyn Sandford.
The lawsuit also names Paramount Pictures as a defendant.
Jones formed the Sex Pistols in 1975 with John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock. John Simon Ritchie, a.k.a. Sid Vicious, joined in 1977 after Matlock’s departure. Jones was their guitarist until the band broke up in 1978.
The band later reformed to do tours with the original lineup. Vicious died of an overdose in 1979 after being charged in the 1978 death of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in New York.
Jones is a musician, record producer and actor and lives in Los Angeles. He hosts the radio show Jonesy’s Jukebox.
The claim alleges Paramount hired A.B. in 1980 as an audience member extra for the film ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.’
Jones, then 24, was hired to play “a socially volatile punk rock guitar player in a fictitious all-male band.”
The claim alleges that, by 1980, Jones “had earned international notoriety as a punk rocker for his propensity to consume excessive quantities of alcohol and illicit drugs, for losing control of his physical and sexual impulses, and for engaging in sexual misconduct, including minors, and engaging in sexual contact with people without their consent.”
The claim alleges Paramount knew Jones’ “history, reputation and propensities” when it hired Jones.
“Indeed, the defendant Paramount hired the defendant Jones precisely because Jones’ real-life reputation as a drug-involved, volatile and dangerously unpredictable Sex Pistols’ guitarist aligned with and amplified the role of the volatile guitarist in the fictitious band The Looters in The Fabulous Stains,” the claim asserts.
In its filed July 19 response, Paramount denied hiring Jones due to his reputation and that Jones had earned international notoriety for losing control of sexual impulses.
The allegations
The claim said the teen was on location at Vancouver’s Denman Inn and intended to ask actor Diane Lane to go roller skating on April 13, 1980.
While there, the claim alleges, Jones approached her. She said she was looking for Lane and Jones told the girl he had Lane’s number in his room.
The claims alleged Jones took the girl to his room, gave her marijuana, turned off the lights and closed the curtains.
“The plaintiff understood this to mean that Jones intended to initiate sexual contact with her,” the claim said.
It said she did not consent, saying she was only 14.
The claim said he pulled her onto the bed, lay on top of her, kissed her and molested her.
She claimed she said “no’, tried to move his hand, wriggled free and left the room.
“At the time, the plaintiff was both repulsed and flattered by this unwanted sexual attention from someone she believed to be a rock star and a movie star,” the claim said. “She was confused, intoxicated by cannabis and confounded by the sexual contact and said nothing about the incident to her parents.”
Jones and Paramount respond
Jones’ response said he did not administer any noxious substance to the plaintiff as alleged. Further, it said, Jones was in no position of power or authority over the plaintiff.
The response also said the plaintiff suffered no damages as a result of any actions as a result Jones’ “wrongful acts or omissions” if any occurred.
And the response said, if the plaintiff suffered any injuries as alleged, “those injuries are attributable to previous and/or subsequent incidents and/or conditions.”
Paramount’s response, filed by lawyers Jordanna Cytrynbaum and Rajit Mittal, said the company owed the plaintiff no contractual or fiduciary obligations.
Paramount also said there was no filming on the day in question and the plaintiff would have been there for her own volition and personal reasons.
“If the plaintiff was assaulted by Jones, then such an incident did not occur in the course of Jones’ or the plaintiff’s providing any services in connections with the film,” the Paramount response said.
Further parts of claim
The plaintiff’s claim said as she got older, she felt sexually violated, ashamed and angry.
The claim alleges Paramount did not warn the plaintiff, her parents or other extras about Jones, that the musician was not supervised around minors and that he was not contractually prevented from contact with minor extras and from consuming illicit drugs.
Paramount’s response said it had no duty to warn the parents.
Paramount’s response said it has no record of the plaintiff working as an extra on the film. Even if she did, it said, she had no scenes with Jones and was not required to be in his vicinity.
The suit claims general, special, aggravated and punitive damages.
Several documents in the case have been sealed by court order.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
