Benny Medina, the TV producer and music manager who has worked with Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Mariah Carey, has been accused of attempted rape by actor Jason Dottley.
Medina “categorically denies the allegation of attempted rape,” his attorneys say.
The allegation was made by Dottley (Logo’s Sordid Lives: The Series) in an article posted by The Advocate yesterday and updated today with Medina’s denial.
Dottley says the incident occurred in December of 2008, and that he was inspired to tell his story after reading about Anthony Rapp went public with allegations against Kevin Spacey.
According to Dottley, he and a friend, Sordid Lives costar T. Ashanti Mozelle, met Medina in a West Hollywood bar and returned to the manager’s Los Angeles mansion. Dottley says he assumed Medina, well known for managing Lopez and exec-producing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Maid in Manhattan and at the time was an executive consultant on The Tyra Banks Show, was romantically interested in Mozelle (Dottley was married at the time to TV writer and playwright Del Shores, and wore a wedding ring).
While Mozelle was swimming in Medina’s pool, Dottley says Medina was showing him photos of celebrities and led him to a bedroom door.
Says Dottley, “There was no ‘Do you want to see my bedroom?’ We literally got to the door and he grabbed me by the chest of my shirt and threw me onto his bed. Now I’m 6 foot tall and was 155 pounds, and this is a stocky strong man. We all have these things playing in our heads of what would we ever do if someone ever tried to do something, and none of my preplanned motions would work.”
The Advocate writes that Medina pinned Dottley to the mattress “while forcefully placing his thighs over Dottley’s legs to keep them from squirming.”
“At this point, Dottley remembers, he started to cry and beg Medina to stop. But the mogul allegedly wouldn’t stop and kept repeating, ‘I’m having you! Oh, I will have you…’
The incident, Dottley says, was interrupted when Mozelle “burst in the room.” A few days later, Medina sent him a text message threatening husband Shores. Dottley says he told few people about the incident then, including his husband, but did later confide in his manager Renee Bailey, who confirmed.
Adds Dottley, “For the record, I don’t plan on suing for money.”
Medina, who continues to work with Lopez, executive produced the 2013-17 series The Fosters and is slated to executive produce NBC’s 2018 production Bye Bye Birdie Live! starring Lopez.
