D.A. Declines to Charge Benny Medina With 2004 Sexual Assault

Publish date: 2024-02-25

Prosecutors on Friday declined to file charges against Benny Medina, the music manager best known for representing Jennifer Lopez.

Medina was accused of sexually assaulting a man in 2004. According to the District Attorney’s office, the case fell outside the statute of limitations. Complicating matters further, the D.A. said the complaining party recently died. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.

In November, actor Jason Dottley alleged that Medina tried to rape him in 2008. Dottley told the Advocate that Medina invited him and a friend to his home, and then forced Dottley onto a bed and tried to sexually assault him. The friend, who was also interviewed, confirmed the account, and said Medina was on top of Dottley when he walked into the bedroom. Medina denied the allegation at the time.

The LAPD appears to have investigated an account that was not previously reported.

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The D.A.’s entertainment sexual assault task force has received allegations against 22 people, including Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal, and Harvey Weinstein. So far, the office has not filed any cases, typically due to the statute of limitations.

Medina got his start in the music business as a label executive and eventually segued to film production, with credits that include 1994’s “Above the Rim” and 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan.” After a brief split in the 2000s, Medina returned to manage Lopez in 2008. At the MTV Video Music Awards last month, Lopez thanked Medina for “20 years of fighting for me, and loving me, and believing in me … every day since the day I played you that rickety demo of the first song I ever wrote. I would be not here if it wasn’t for you.”

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