Russell Simmons is being sued by a former music producer who alleges she was raped by the famous music executive, Variety reports. The producer worked for Def Jam Recordings in the late 1990s, and the lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act.
On Tuesday (Feb. 13), the woman filed a complaint that describes the incident. She alleges that while the two were together at Simmons’ Manhattan apartment to review a video, he made a “wrestling move,” pinned her down on his bed, and proceeded to rape her.
“Ms. Doe rejected his advance and told him to ‘get off’ and ‘stop’ several times,” the lawsuit states. “She told him she was ‘serious’ and she ‘meant it.’ But Ms. Doe was forcefully pinned, could not move under his weight and Mr. Simmons would not listen to her.”
The document also describes an time where the woman wound up next to Simmons at a yoga class, where she asked the Def Jam co-founder if it was okay to practice next to him. He allegedly replied, “Of course. What, do you think I’m gonna try and f**k you?”
“Ms. Doe was horrified,” the complaint continues. “She realized not only was he unapologetic towards her personally, he did not appreciate that the assault was wrong.”
Simmons was first accused of sexual assault back in 2017 and has remained under the radar ever since. In December 2023, he broke his silence on the allegations, and even revealed he has taken a total of nine lie detector tests since being accused by over a dozen women.
The 66-year-old was featured in an episode of In Depth with Graham Bensinger, where he denied any violent allegations against him, acknowledged being in “compromising situations,” and described how he took one test per “serious” claim made against him.
“I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that,” said Simmons. “Nine separate — seven from the Chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each and serious accusation.” Revisit the interview below.
