10:16 PM ET 05/28/98

Photographer sues Courtney Love for alleged attack

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A celebrity photographer who claims
Courtney Love kneed her in the groin, pulled her hair and struck
her in the face filed a lawsuit against the rock star and
actress  Thursday. 

Belissa Cohen, a photographer for L.A. Weekly magazine,
seeks unspecified damages in the lawsuit, which stemmed from an
alleged altercation with Love at a fashion show in Los Angeles.

In her Superior Court lawsuit, Cohen alleged that Love --
who first gained fame as lead singer for the rock band Hole and
as wife of late rock star Kurt Cobain -- was posing for another
photographer when she tried to take her picture.
Cohen claimed Love charged her, grabbed her hair and
yelled: ``Don't be taking pictures of me! Do you think I'm not
still punk rock?''
Love, who made the transition from rock 'n' roll to movie
stardom with a critically acclaimed performance in ``The People
vs. Larry Flynt,'' then kneed her in the groin and struck her in
the face, Cohen claimed.
Cohen claimed she later heard Love tell another journalist:
''I just hit Belissa Cohen and it felt so good.''
Love publicist Heidi Schaffer said she was unaware of the
incident and had not yet seen the lawsuit.