A director of UK-based festival Slam Dunk has stepped down from his role after he was accused of sexually assaulting an actress on multiple occasions.
Jenny Miller claims in a since deleted social media post that one of Slam Dunk’s directors sometimes paid her to dance for him and that on one occasion he sexually assaulted her after providing her with “cocaine” which caused her to pass out.
Miller, who describes herself as a showgirl and actress, says there were multiple other sexual assaults. She also posted screenshots of text conversations between herself and the man she accuses of the assaults.
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Miller’s statement did not name her alleged attacker, however it was posted alongside a picture of Ben Ray, the festival’s founder. It has been reported that she deleted her posts reluctantly on the advice of police.
A statement released by the festival says he “strongly refutes” the claims but adds that he has stepped down from his role.
The full Slam Dunk statement reads: “We are aware of allegations published yesterday relating to one of our directors. We take these allegations seriously and understand that they may be distressing and hard to process for our community.
“Our Slam Dunk fans, staff, and artists are, as always, our top priority. While he strongly refutes these allegations, the director in question has agreed, in consultation with the board, to step down from Slam Dunk operations while this matter is ongoing.
“Slam Dunk remains committed to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all employees, partners and customers. Our values and culture are fundamental to how we operate, and we are committed to upholding them.
“It would be inappropriate for us to comment further on an ongoing legal matter.
“However, we promise transparency and honesty to our Slam Dunk community and will provide updates when it is appropriate to do so.”
Miller’s claims were posted on her Facebook and Instagram accounts and included a picture of Ray.
Her statement includes details of alleged sexual violence which may be disturbing to some readers.
Miller says: “This man sexually assaulted me multiple times on separate occasions and raped me while I was passing out from the coke he provided me.
“I am in the process of pressing charges against him for all the trauma he gave me. He was my friend and I trusted him. He would pay me to dance for him coz he was stripper-obsessed and I was broke, but the rules are do not touch me ever.
“When I was passing out, begging him to stop and get off me, he pulled my knickers to the side and went down on me. I wasn’t strong enough to get him off of me.
“I would tell him repeated to get the f*** off me and he wouldn’t and then he would try harder.
“The man is vile. I told his wife, now ex-wife, what he did to me and what he was doing behind her back. She was doing IVF at the time to try and have his babies.
“I became close friends with him in the strip club because he was offering me a job to work for him as a stripper at his festival for rockstars in the VIP and he wanted to open his own strip club. He also knew a lot of my friends in bands so I trusted him, but he’s a predator and rapist and everyone should know.”