Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock addresses sexual misconduct allegations against his father Israel Horovitz

Adam Horovitz says he believes the claims to be true

Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz, aka Ad-Rock, has responded to sexual misconduct allegations levelled at his father, the playwright Israel Horovitz.

Nine women have accused Israel Horovitz of sexual assault and misconduct to The New York Times, including Ad-Rock’s high school girlfriend. Jocelyn Meinhardt alleges that the author raped her in 1989, when she was 19.

Following the claims, Ad-Rock has said that he “believe[s] the allegations against my father are true, and I stand behind the women that made them.”

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Israel Horovitz, meanwhile, has responded with a statement, saying that he has “a different memory of some of these events”.

However, the 78-year-old writer adds: “I apologise with all my heart to any woman who has ever felt compromised by my actions, and to my family and friends who have put their trust in me. To hear that I have caused pain is profoundly upsetting, as is the idea that I might have crossed a line with anyone who considered me a mentor.”

Beastie Boys in New York
Beastie Boys in New York

Israel Horovitz was the founding artistic director of the Gloucester Stage company, a Massachusetts theatre group that has since cut ties with Horovitz senior.

Elizabeth Neumeier, the Gloucester board’s current president, revealed in a statement that there had been previous complaints made about Israel Horovitz.

“I apologise to the brave women who came forward in 1992 and 1993 but were not listened to,” Neumeier said. “We are individually and collectively appalled by the allegations, both old and new.”

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