Benny Medina Was Once Accused of Attempting Rape on Jason Dottley

Benny Medina, the Hollywood mogul who has managed the careers of stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, and Will Smith, has a great influence on the entertainment industry. He was once accused of using that power and influence to attempt to rape someone.

Jason Dottley was the one to accuse Medina of attempted rape. The actor came out with his story about the incident right when everything about Harvey Weinstein was getting exposed.

Dottley, however, was not the only one who accused Medina of sexual misconduct in the 2000s.

Jason Dottley Accused Benny Medina of Attempted Rape

Dottley spoke to The Advocate in November 2017, where he detailed much of what he claimed happened between him and Medina in December 2008. It was his "shameful secret," and he hid it for nearly a decade before finally publicly talking about it, inspired by Anthony Rapp's accusations against Kevin Spacey.

In Dottley's narration, Medina had tried to rape him in his Los Angeles mansion. It happened after he and fellow actor and friend, T. Ashanti Mozelle, went to the place after meeting Medina at the Abbey, a bar in West Hollywood.

Medina invited the two actors to his house, and Dottley assumed Medina was interested in Mozelle instead of him. Then, the mogul offered the two a tour of the place, which they graciously accepted.

Benny Medina with Jennifer Lopez and Demi Lovato. (Photo: Instagram)

During the tour, they arrived at the swimming pool, at which point Mozelle stripped down and went for a "little dip." Dottley was still under the misapprehension that Medina was eyeing Mozelle.

The two continued the tour without Mozelle and eventually arrived at Medina's bedroom. The exec then grabbed Dottley by his shirt, threw him into the bed, and started forcing himself on the actor.

Physically defenseless and realizing his mental pre-planning wasn't anywhere near sufficient to get out of the situation, Dottley, a 6-foot 155-pound guy, started resisting.

According to his accounts, the more he resisted, the more aggressive Medina became. "I'm having you," the exec allegedly demanded and forced his forearms on the actor's neck.

Dottle, who wore his wedding ring openly, even brought up his marriage with Del Shores, saying, "Stop. I’m married. What are you doing?" Nothing worked as he continued trying to undress him, but the actor did not clearly remember anything of that sort.

"His forearm was bearing down on my neck so hard that I don’t know how much longer I would have remained conscious," Dottley recalled of the moment. Nobody knows how long the struggle lasted, but it was long enough to get Mozelle worried.

Mozelle randomly got out of the pool and walked into Medina's bedroom, where he found him atop Dottley. He said something along the lines of "Get off him!" and it worked.

Medina got off Dottley immediately, grabbed him by his shirt again, and threw him at his bedroom door. "You two get the [expletive] out of here," Medina told the two.

Dottley did not speak of the incident with his ex-husband, but Medina reentered his life again a few days later with a threatening text. While walking down the street with his ex-husband, he received a text from Medina, a part of which read, "Is that the husband I have to have killed to have you?"

He responded privately, telling Medina not to text him again, but still did not tell Shores of the incident, fearing he would "do something." Shores found out about it only after The Advocate's story was published.

Jason Dottley accused Benny Medina of attempted rape in December 2008. (Photo: Jason Dottley/Twitter)

The Sordid Lives actor did not discuss the event further because he feared of lack of proof except that Mozelle saw it happen. He felt it did not matter and didn't know what he would do, anyway.

One of the few people he told was his manager, Renee Bailey, in April 2016. Dottley basically asked her to exclude Medina from the people he wanted to work with.

In light of the allegations after the piece became public, Medina, through his attorneys, categorically denied the allegations of attempted rape.

Benny Medina’s 2004 Sexual Assault Case

Other than Dottley's accusations, Medina was accused of sexual assault by another person. In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter reported about this case.

On September 21, 2018, THR reported that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office announced it would not pursue a sexual assault case filed against Medina. The incident, according to District Attorney's report, happened in 2004.

But the D.A.'s office was not pursuing the case because it was declared to be outside the statute of limitations. Further, the alleged victim, who remained unnamed, had also died.

As for Dottley, he did not pursue legal action against Medina because he feared for his, Shores, and his step-children's lives and careers. Citing his power and influence, he said, "hopefully anyone can understand just how scared of this man I was."