Music

Elton John accused of sexual harassment by former security guard

by Richard Howard

A decorated LAPD officer has sued pop star Elton John for sexual battery and harassment. In the suit, Jeffrey Wenninger claims that, during his tenure as security guard for the singer between 2002 and 2014, John inappropriately touched him and made sexually suggestive comments on multiple occasions. The suit goes on to charge that the incidents “escalat[ed] in frequency and intensity after 2010.”

The suit details three alleged 2014 assaults, said to have taken place in John’s vehicle. Wenninger claims that on one occasion, the entertainer attempted to touch his buttocks and genitals, saying “Get your todger out” and “Say hello to Uncle Elton.” In another alleged incident, Wenninger accused John of grabbing his nipples and calling him a “gorgeous thing” as well as attempting to stick his finger in the policeman’s ear and telling him: “You have so many gay genes in your, they just haven’t met up yet.”

The suit says that Wenninger resisted both verbally and physically to no avail. Asking for a trial by jury, the LAPD officer is seeking unspecified monetary damages for pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost income. Many media outlets have reported Wenninger now holds the rank of captain, but this remained unconfirmed at press time.

Through his attorneys, Elton John immediately denied the claims. Orin Snyder, an attorney for John’s Rocket Entertainment Group released the following statement yesterday:

Jeffrey Wenninger was awarded with the LAPD Medal of Valor as a sergeant in 2007 following the rescue of elderly residents from a burning building. However, according to the New York Daily News, Wenninger himself was once accused of domestic violence.

In 2002, Wenninger’s ex-wife won a temporary restraining order against him, claiming “continual intimidation and abuse” during their brief six-month marriage. She requested the action be dismissed a week later, saying she did not want to stand in the way of his work and that she believed Wenninger “understands the gravity of his actions and will refrain from the conduct which I set forth in my declaration.”