Courtney Love Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Journalist

CONTENT WARNING: This article contains discussion of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au

A journalist has accused Courtney Love of groping him at a party, hoping to open a dialogue about double standards in the reporting of – and public response towards – incidents of gendered sexual harassment.

In a new episode of his podcast Quite Frankly (which you can listen to on Spotify here), Frank Elaridi brought up an alleged encounter with Love that he had “about six to 10 years ago”, when he was around 24 years old and assigned by Nightline to work her Coachella afterparty. He said of the moment (as transcribed by People): “I'm at her afterparty interviewing her in a side room and she's like, come hang out with us! So I do. We take a photo together, and the second the photo's done, she grabs my crotch like, really hard.”

Elaridi went on to say that he doesn’t wish to “cancel” Love – a proposition posed to him by the podcast’s guest, Nahko Bear, who himself was accused of sexual misconduct in 2020 – but address whether or not it would be considered a double standard to let her go without reprimand. “That would never cross my mind,” he said, “to be like, ‘Let me go after her now, ten years later.’ She's a rockstar in my head – not to justify it or say it's okay – but in my head, that would never cross my mind to do that. [But] maybe we should talk about it; is it [not a significant issue] because she's a woman and I'm a man?”

In a statement shared with People after the podcast was released, Elaridi said his goal was “[not to] get her canceled or in trouble, but rather to start a conversation about why these double standards exist between men and women”. He said of the situation mentioned in his show: “Courtney was nothing but kind when I interviewed her, and I genuinely think that she was just playing the persona of a rockstar. She probably thought she was going to give this kid a photo to show his friends and talk about years from now.”

Elaridi reaffirmed that he didn’t consider Love’s intent to be “predatory”, but said men in positions of power have been “cancelled for less”, adding: “My hope is that we get to a place where we have open and honest conversations and give people a chance to grow and evolve, rather than just accuse and cast them out permanently.”

The journalist did concede that his experience does not reflect the majority of those who accuse public figures of misconduct. “I do see why there might be a double standard where it's just not the same,” he told People, “because I didn't ever feel in danger, or like she could overpower me. I was young, naive and went along with it because people were watching and I thought it was what 'cool' people do.”

At the time of writing, Love – best known for her solo work and as the frontwoman of Hole – is yet to respond publicly to Elaridi’s accusations.