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The Gaslamp Killer Sues Accusers For $5 Million Following Rape Allegation

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 09: DJ/producer The Gaslamp Killer performs during Rock in Rio USA at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on May 9, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Los Angeles-based DJ and producer William Benjamin Bensussen, known professionally as The Gaslamp Killer, has filed a lawsuit against three people who accused him of rape. Last month, a woman named Chelsea Elaynne shared a detailed description on Twitter of an evening in 2013 during which Bensussen allegedly drugged her and a friend, named RaeAn, took them to a secluded area, raped them, and returned them to the hotel where they had met.

Bensussen promptly denied the allegations in his own Twitter post, saying, “I would never hurt or endanger a woman. I would never drug a woman… Chelsea’s version of this story is not true. I am thankful that I have been contacted by witnesses and my roommates at the time, in support.”

Now, TMZ reports, Bensussen is suing the two women named in the rape allegation, as well as Elaynne boyfriend, popular internet personality Jack Wagner, who shared Elaynne’s post and personally echoed the allegations. The court documents, obtained by TMZ and Pitchfork, state that Bensussen is suing for at least $5 million in damages stemming from the “malicious and fabricated” allegations. The documents outline a different version of the night, detailing a consensual sexual encounter between the two women and Bensussen. The complaint also presents two witnesses, “Christopher S.” and “Peter R.” According to the documents, Christopher claims he saw the drinks in question “the entire time,” and that he did not see Bensussen “spike, tamper with, or put anything in the drinks.” In addition, Christopher claims that the two women instead approached Bensussen about having sex. Peter, Bensussen’s housemate, adds to the claim that the women left with Bensussen that night “under their own power and did not appear incapacitated.”

Record label Brainfeeder and L.A. collective Low End Theory have both cut ties in the wake of the allegations, and Brainfeeder mastermind Flying Lotus released his own statement retracting the support he initially expressed for Bensussen following Elaynne’s Twitter post.