Benny Medina has joined the ranks of entertainment-industry figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
In an interview with The Advocate, “Sordid Lives” actor Jason Dottley accused manager Medina — whose clients have included Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey — of trying to rape him in 2008 at Medina’s Los Angeles home.
Dottley told The Advocate that he met Medina in late 2008 while hanging out with his friend and fellow actor T. Ashanti Mozelle at the Abbey in West Hollywood. After inviting the pair to his home, Medina “grabbed me by the chest of my shirt and threw me onto his bed,” Dottley said, then “stuck his tongue down my mouth.”
According to Dottley he protested, telling Medina he was married, but the manager told him “I’m having you” before pinning Dottley to the mattress and putting his thighs over the actor’s legs to prevent them from squirming.
Dottley, who said that he begged Medina to stop, told The Advocate, “[Medina’s] forearm was bearing down on my neck so hard that I don’t know how much longer I would have remained conscious.”
The alleged incident ended, The Advocate reported, when Mozelle, who had been in the pool at Medina’s home, became concerned and walked into Medina’s room and found the manager “on top of Jason.”
After Mozelle demanded that Medina get off of Dottley, “Benny Medina got off of me and grabbed me again by the chest of my shirt and threw me at — not to, but at — his bedroom door and all he said was, ‘You two get the f–k out of here,’” Dottley told The Advocate.
Medina’s attorneys told The Advocate that their client “categorically denies the allegation of attempted rape.”
According to Dottley, days after the alleged incident, as he was walking down the street with his then-husband, he received a threatening text message from Medina.
“I check it and it says something like: ‘Hey, I’m at The Ivy eating. Just saw you walking across the street. Is that the husband I have to have killed to have you?’” Dottley told The Advocate.