Sex, rage and ‘I could kill you’: Read the bombshell allegations actress girlfriend is making about Aussie Hollywood star Sullivan Stapleton

Hollywood movie star Sullivan Stapleton – the former Aussie child actor best known for roles in Animal Kingdom and Blindspot – is being sued by his actress girlfriend for alleged assault, sexual battery, false imprisonment and stalking.

A civil complaint for damages filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles claims he repeatedly assaulted former longtime lover Alexis Kelley, threatened to kill her and shot a guest at their home with a pellet gun.

Kelley alleges in the complaint that Stapleton, 47, demanded sex and told her on different occasions, ‘It’s survival of the fittest. I could kill you, but I don’t’, ‘If I needed to kill you … I’d just use my hands’ and ‘I have to train you just like I train the dog’.

Kelley, aka Kelley Stanley, is being represented in the civil suit by high profile US attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented women alleging sexual abuse against people including Donald Trump, actor Bill Cosby and musicians R. Kelly and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs. 

Ms Allred confirmed to Daily Mail Australia she has carriage of the case which is due back at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown LA for its next hearing on June 13.  

In the civil suit, Kelley claims the Secret Life of Us, Underbelly Files and Strike Back star subjected her to ‘threats of violence and intimidation’ from the early stages of their relationship which began in 2018 and ended last year. 

It is not suggested that the claims made by Alexis Kelley are true, only that they have been made in the court filing.

The claims include alleged unconsented sexual contact, choking, shoving and grabbing Kelley, forcefully pinning her against hard surfaces, throwing her against the ground, and striking her.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Stapleton, via agent United Management, for comment.

The claims allege incidents at a Californian hotel, a residence in a beachside suburb, a Santa Monica bar, a film premiere and remote surveillance of Kelley by Stapleton from Australia.

Filed on March 4, the Complaint for Damages cites ten claims for alleged crimes including assault, battery, sexual battery, false imprisonment, gender violence, stalking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Viceroy Hotel  

In mid-2022 the couple moved into the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica while looking for a place to live in Los Angeles. 

On June 27, 2022, Kelley claims in the damages complaint that Stapleton demanded she have sex.

She claims that, when she was unwilling, he became ‘enraged, grabbed her cellphone and struck her repeatedly on the arm with it while he trapped her on the bed’.

When she fled to the bathroom, he allegedly ‘pinned her by her arms, shoulders and neck against a glass shower door’ and then he ‘continued to use physical force and the infliction of pain until she returned, under compulsion, to the bedroom. 

‘She submitted herself, under compulsion, to sexual intercourse with him.’

Venice, LA

Kelley and Stapleton moved into a home in the beachside LA suburb of Venice where on October 29, 2002, the male half of a couple Kelley had invited over was allegedly seized by Stapleton and ‘aggressively placed … in a headlock’, the complaint said. 

When Kelley and the other woman tried to free the male from the headlock, Stapleton threw them all ‘onto the floor forcefully’, according to the damages complaint.

When the couple left the house, Kelley in tow apologising, Stapleton ‘followed them onto the street … aggressively to seek a physical fight’ and thereafter ‘his display of irrational fury and violence stayed in’ her mind, according to the complaint.

The pellet gun  

The complaint states that in early 2023, Stapleton told Kelley he had bought two heavy pellet guns from a gun shop, and then on March 4, shot a guest in the leg with one of the pellet guns.

That day ‘was a factor in the fear’ that caused Kelley ‘to be subjected to domination by the defendant, and to subsequent unwanted touching and contact’, the complaint said. 

In mid-2023, before Stapleton left to spend three months in Australia, he installed surveillance cameras at their home which the damages claims allege he used ‘to monitor, track, stalk, harass, and control’ Kelley and follow her when she came and went from the house.

He could also speak to her via the system. Kelley began turning off the cameras ‘during daytime hours because she did not want to be spied on’, but Stapleton reactivated the cameras remotely from Australia, the complaint said. 

Kelley only learnt of this when Stapleton called to ask her questions about what he had observed via the cameras. 

The ‘interrogations became so stressful and intimidating’, the complaint says, that Kelley ‘limited activities outside the house, stayed home, suffered severe anxiety … avoided making plans with friends, decided not to attend certain events and decided not to invite friends over to the house’.

Santa Monica bar 

In August 2023 after Stapleton returned to the US, he and Kelley met friends at a bar-restaurant in Santa Monica where he allegedly grabbed her in full view of patrons and ‘aggressively put his hands around her neck in a choking move’, the complaint said.

On September 23, 2023, Stapleton told her to vacate their home and as she did so allegedly hurled items at her and ‘shoved her several times while laughing at her helplessness’.

The court complaint alleges that ‘he then pushed her onto the bed, grabbed her arms roughly and prevented her from moving or leaving’ saying to her ‘are you scared’ and blocking the doorway to prevent her from leaving.

Movie premiere 

The couple remained living together. But on November 2, when they drove to a movie premiere, Stapleton allegedly became enraged when Kelley did not know the location of the entrance to the car park.

The complaint alleges Stapleton continued to be angry and forcefully grabbed and pinched her, and then after the premiere when she wanted to leave in a  taxi, ‘menacingly told her to get into the car’.

He then allegedly ‘drove them home, and intentionally began driving at excessive speed, running stop signs, and otherwise driving erratically … terrifying (Kelley)’ who pleaded with him ‘to stop the car so she could get out’.

‘Good luck with the scar’

On December 5, 2023, when they dined out at a LA restaurant, and Stapleton berated and swore at her, then abruptly left, she called a female friend, K, who accompanied her back home that evening, according to the complain.

When K entered the residence, Stapleton called out ‘who the f*** is in my house?’ and on learning it was K, allegedly ‘went into a rage … and physically attacked’ Kelley.

The damages complaint alleges that he inflicted ‘a cut on her shoulder, facial bruising, swelling and a deep laceration on her cheek’, and said, ‘your face is bleeding. Good luck with that scar.’

Kelley was treated that evening for the alleged injuries, and prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

The complaint says Kelley ‘has suffered and will continue to suffer personal injury, pain and suffering, anguish and severe emotional distress’ and seeks general and compensatory damages in an amount in excess of the jurisdictional minimum of the court.

Kelley is seeking an unspecified amount ‘according to proof at trial’. 

The court document describes Stapleton’s alleged conduct as ‘outrageous’ and says it was ‘performed with malice, oppression, conscious disregard … with the intent, design and purpose of injuring her’.

The case continues.