Courtney Love, 58, has been accused by journalist Frank Elaridi of groping him without his consent nearly a decade ago.
Frank Elaridi who is also a podcaster spoke about the alleged incident during an episode of his podcast, Quite Frankly.
The singer-songwriter allegedly groped him around ‘six to 10 years ago’, the Emmy-winning journalist revealed on an episode of his podcast, Quite Frankly, on Thursday.
Thursday’s edition (18 May) of the show, titled ‘Cancelled to Resurrected’, featured Elaridi in conversation with musician Nahko Bear, who was accused of sexual misconduct in 2020.
After discussing an incident in which Bear was alleged to have grabbed a woman’s breast without her consent (he denies doing so), Elaridi recalls an interaction with Hole frontwoman, Love.
‘I did an interview like six years ago, with Courtney Love, I still have the photo,’ he begins.
The author meanwhile stated that by sharing this information now, he is not trying to ‘cancel’ the musician but rather open up a conversation about double standards.
The author recalled being assigned to interview the actress who is set to return to the big screen after a five-year hiatus at Coachella when he was 24 years old.
At the time, the host said he was working for Nightline and had gone to the guitarist’s afterparty to meet up with her.
‘I’m at her afterparty interviewing her in a side room,’ he said while speaking to his podcast guest, Nahko.
‘And she’s like, “Come hang out with us!” So I do.
‘We take a photo together, and the second the photo’s done, she grabs my crotch, like, really hard,’ he told the Oregon-born musician.
Elaridi shared the photo in question and added that he was ‘caught off guard’ by her surprising pose.
‘That would never cross my mind to be like, “Let me go after her now, 10 years later”,’ he said.
‘She’s a rockstar in my head — not to justify it or say it’s OK — but in my head, that would never cross my mind to do that,’ he continued.
‘[But] maybe we should talk about it.’ He then prompted the question: ‘Is it because she’s a woman and I’m a man?’
Elaridi also told People that by opening about this encounter now, he is not trying to ‘get her canceled or in trouble, but rather to start a conversation about why these double standards exist between men and women’.
He also added: ‘Courtney was nothing but kind when I interviewed her, and I genuinely think that she was just playing the persona of a rockstar.
‘She probably thought she was going to give this kid a photo to show his friends and talk about years from now,’ he explained before adding that he did not think her intentions were ‘predatory’.
‘My hope is that we get to a place where we can have open and honest conversations and give people a chance to grow and evolve, rather than just accuse and cast them out permanently,’ he told the publication.
He also asserted that he is ‘fully aware’ that he did not feel threatened or unsafe during the encounter — which would be different if the roles were reversed.
‘With that in mind, I do see why there might be a double standard where it’s just not the same, because I didn’t ever feel in danger or like she could overpower me,’ he stated.
‘I was young, naive, and went along with it because people were watching and I thought it was what “cool” people do,’ he continued.
