In April 2025, Weezer bassist Scott Shriner’s wife, Jillian Lauren, made headlines when she was shot by Los Angeles police and arrested after pointing a handgun at officers during a confrontation. Amid the investigation, people are hoping to learn more about Jillian. In Touch shares everything to know about the author, her marriage to Scott and more.
Who Is Scott Shriner’s Wife Jillian Lauren?
Jillian was born and raised in Livingston, New Jersey, and graduated from Newark Academy in 1991. She went on to briefly attend New York University to study acting, but she left college after six months and became a stripper in Times Square, according to The New York Post.
Today, Jillian works as an author, having written works in the tragicomedy, fiction and memoir genres. Her most notable projects were her New York Times bestselling memoirs Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, which was released in 2010, and Everything You Ever Wanted, which was released in 2015, as well as her 2011 novel, Pretty.
Jillian also wrote the USA Today bestselling true crime book Behold the Monster: Facing America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer, which was published in 2023. As part of her research for the book, Jillian spent several hours with serial killer Sam Little, who was convicted of eight murders and confessed to committing 93 murders between 1970 and 2005. Little served a life sentence at California State Prison in Los Angeles County until his death in 2020.
Jillian’s interviews with Little were the focus of the April 2021 Starz docuseries Confronting a Serial Killer.
Jillian Lauren Was a Call Girl for Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei
In Some Girls, Jillian detailed her work as an elite call girl for Jefri Bolkiah, the Prince of Brunei. After landing the job by posing for photos in lingerie, she told her parents that she had gotten an acting gig and flew to the Asian country. During her time working for Bolkiah, she said she came to see him as her “savior.”
“I fell victim to Stockholm Syndrome,” she wrote in the memoir, according to The New York Post. “I knew I was a hooker, but somehow I felt like Cinderella.”
Jillian eventually left the royal’s harem and returned to the U.S.
Do Jillian Lauren and Scott Shriner Have Kids?
After tying the knot with Scott in November 2005, the couple went on to adopt two sons, Tariku Moon in 2009 and Jovanni “Jovi” Starshine in 2016.
“Dearest friends, we are over the moon to finally introduce you to our son — legally. All signed and sealed. Jovanni Starshine. Isn’t he glorious?” Jillian wrote on her website after their second son’s adoption. “Tariku picked his middle name, and you have to meet him to know how wonderfully apropos it is. This kid sparkles with joy and sweetness and resilience and mischief and creativity and curiosity and music and dancing and delight.”
She continued, “‘Look what we did,’ I said to Scott on the ride home, somewhat astounded to be watching our children happily munching animal crackers, listening to their favorite songs, getting crumbs all over their good suits. We made a family. ‘Look what we did,’ he agreed.”
Jillian concluded that her “heart is a balloon.”
“He is perfect. We are perfect together,” she added.
Jillian Lauren Shot by Police and Arrested After Pointing Gun at Officers
On April 8, 2025, Jillian was shot and injured by L.A. police after she pointed a handgun at officers from the front yard of her home in Eagle Rock, according to a statement from the L.A.P.D. The encounter came while the officers were in pursuit of three suspects from a misdemeanor hit-and-run. However, it was later determined that Jillian was not involved in the hit-and-run.
According to the statement, the officers ordered Jillian to drop her weapon several times, but she allegedly refused and pointed the gun at them. The L.A.P.D. did not say if Jillian fired the gun, but the statement revealed that she was “struck by gunfire and fled into her residence.” She was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and taken to a hospital to be treated for a “non-life-threatening gunshot wound.”
One suspect connected to the hit-and-run has been detained by the California Highway Patrol, while the other two remain at large as of April 9, 2025.
A nine-millimeter handgun was recovered from Jillian and Scott’s residence. Jillian was released on bond, but the investigation into the incident is still underway. Her next hearing is scheduled for April 30, according to multiple reports.
