After publishing a memoir about her time spent in the harem of the Sultan of Brunei, and then another about her professional entanglement with serial killer Samuel Little, author Jillian Lauren’s next book may focus on the incident in which she pulled a gun on the Los Angeles Police Department and took a bullet to the arm.
In a recent exclusive with Rolling Stone, Lauren spoke for the first time about her life after a police incident that captured national headlines in April. The police were initially searching for three hit-and-run suspects in Eagle Rock near the 134 freeway and Figueroa Street. When they made their way through the neighborhood, police said they encountered a woman “armed with a handgun” in the yard of a neighboring residence.
According to the police, the department claims Lauren fired at officers over a fence during the manhunt for the suspects, resulting in the officers firing back and striking her in the arm. She was charged with two felonies: negligent discharge of a firearm and assault with a semiautomatic weapon.
“My world fell to pieces around me in a heartbeat,” she told Rolling Stone. “It’s like, you spend your whole life just getting an entire deck of cards in order. And just take them and throw them up in the air one day, and I’m still waiting to see how they’re gonna land.”
Lauren pleaded not guilty and was eligible for a mental health diversion program, which requires counseling and random drug and alcohol testing.
In the Rolling Stone interview, she opened up about her time in prison and the impact the news headlines were having on her. In the moment she thought, she would never write about her experience being arrested for this incident, but has since changed her mind and said, “Books are what I do.”
Books are, in fact, what she does, and they have made her a New York Times best-selling author. Her memoir, “Everything You Ever Wanted,” details her personal experience with adoption, and “Some Girls: My Life in a Harem” recounts her 18 months as a paid member of a prince’s harem in Brunei. Her last book, “Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer,” compiles her interviews with convicted serial killer Samuel Little.
The interview also mentioned that she and her husband, Scott Shriner, longtime Weezer bassist, are getting divorced. Lauren filed for divorce from the musician on Dec. 2 after 20 years of marriage. She said they had grown apart, but the incident with the police exacerbated their struggles.
The couple put out a joint statement on Instagram, expressing their long-standing love.
“We’ll always share the wonder we saw in each other’s eyes when we first held our children,” the post read. “The same wild hearts that brought us together carry us now in different directions. We’ll forever be a family, united in love, laughter, and music.”
The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival announced Weezer as the surprise guest for this year’s weekend one, just days before the incident between Lauren and the police. During their set, neither Shriner nor the group mentioned the incident.
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