Music executive Russell Simmons has been sued for sexual harassment and assault by a former Def Jam Recordings executive.
The plaintiff, who filed the complaint in federal court in New York on Tuesday, accused the music mogul, 66, of raping her in his apartment in the 1990s.
She claims in the lawsuit that she was invited to his home, where he began “fighting” with her in a “playful manner,” before “the situation escalated into assault.”
Simmons, born in New York and founder of the hip-hop and R&B label Def Jam Recordings in 1984 and with an estimated fortune of $340 million, has not yet responded to the accusations.
He previously claimed to have slept with “thousands” of women and acknowledged that a handful have come forward with “compromising” stories about him.
Simmons said in an interview before this lawsuit came to light: “Of course I’ve been insensitive, but I’ve certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships.”
Music executive Russell Simmons, 66, has been sued for sexual harassment and assault by a former Def Jam Recordings executive. He has yet to respond to the damning allegations.
Simmons, photographed in 1990. He founded the hip-hop and R&B label Def Jam Recordings in 1984.
The lawsuit says: ‘Mrs. Doe repeatedly told Mr. Simmons to leave her aside, but he refused. Mr. Simmons proceeded to rape her.
Simmons “called people to his Manhattan apartment all the time when he didn’t want to go to the office,” the lawsuit states. “It was common to go to Mr. Simmons’ apartment to show him something or get approval.”
The music executive also allegedly harassed her in his office. Her lawsuit states: “He would sit on her desk, lean over her, aggressively invade her personal space while making sexual advances, suggestions and advances, and rub the front of her pants.”
He would prevent her from opening his office door to kick him out, the lawsuit states.
The Los Angeles woman is described as someone who “followed her career and passion as a music executive” and is now an accomplished film producer.
The lawsuit also makes claims for assault, wrongful imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
He states: ‘Mrs. Doe’s career in the music industry was interrupted and derailed by a devastating experience at the hands of Mr. Simmons.
“While Mr. Simmons and Ms. Doe initially had a professional working relationship, Mr. Simmons revealed his true colors and, through his aggressive behavior, disabled Ms. Doe’s career at Def Jam, a job she loved, at the height of her career. Success and financial viability.’
It was filed under the state’s Adult Survivors Act, but the window for former sexual misconduct claimants to come forward closed in November.
After the alleged rape, the plaintiff “felt distress,” the lawsuit says.
He continued: ‘At the height of his career success at Def Jam, making award-winning videos for their biggest artists, he experienced overwhelming anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation and debilitating low self-esteem.
‘He suffered frequent panic attacks and found it difficult to go to the Def Jam offices or perform his leadership role. He tried to continue working at Def Jam, but shortly after the attack, to the surprise of his colleagues, he said goodbye, quit the job he loved and moved across the country to California.
“She finally told what happened to a small group of trusted friends and therapists, long before the passage of the New York Adult Survivors Act in 2022.”
This comes just two months after Russell Simmons opened up about the sexual assault allegations that derailed his career in a new interview filmed in Bali.
He said he has never been violent toward anyone and has taken nine lie detector tests since the allegations against him surfaced six years ago.
The New York native, who appeared in In Depth with Graham Bensinger, acknowledged that he had behaved “crudely” and had been involved in sexually “compromising situations” in the past, amid allegations of sexual misconduct by of at least 15 women.
American businessman Russell Simmons (right) with model Amber Smith in 1996
Russell Simmons attends MusiCares Persons of the Year honoring Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 3, 2023.
Russell Simmons during the 36th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Russell Simmons photographed on October 18, 2023.
“If you had slept with as many people as me, thousands, and we’re talking about about six people,” he said, referring to the latter number to people he says he has “spoken badly” to in the past.
Simmons, who spends most of his time residing in Bali, Indonesia, where the interview was filmed, said he has “never been violent toward anyone,” which is not to say he has always treated his sexual partners well.
“Of course I’ve been insensitive,” he said, “but I’ve certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships, and all of them have been consensual.”
The music mogul told Bensinger that he had undergone nine polygraph tests in an effort to clear his name in the wake of the allegations against him, which were part of the MeToo movement that began in the fall of 2017.
“I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that,” the Def Jam co-founder said. “Nine separated, seven from the president of the Polygraph Association, one for each serious accusation.”
Simmons said that when taking lie detector tests, he addressed specific verbiage in the accusations leveled against him.
‘When someone said, for example, “I was violent,” a person said that, and I have never been violent. I took that,” she said. And one said I apologized. I never apologized for attacking anyone.
Russell Simmons, 66, spoke out about the sexual assault allegations that derailed his career in a new interview in December.
Simmons, who spends most of his time residing in Bali, Indonesia, where the interview was filmed, said he has “never been violent toward anyone,” which is not to say he has always treated his sexual partners well.
Simmons speaks on the phone in Manhattan in 1991
‘But if two people say it, because one said it, and MeToo, and the second person said it, then I did a test. Three hours per test conducted by two polygraph examiners: one, which I have never done on anyone, and the other, which I have never done on each individual.
Simmons said he believed in the veracity of the lie detector tests he took, saying, “Some people say they’re not accurate, but they’re 94 percent accurate.”
“I made nine of them, it’s pretty clear I don’t believe it,” Simmons said. ‘I even asked, “Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?” He said, “Your subconscious will get you.”
“I don’t know how true it is, but that’s what the president of the Polygraph Association told me.”
Simmons said there were “very gray” areas where he might have processed a different memory than someone else involved might have.
“I can just tell you that I was in so many compromising situations, that people can have a memory from 30 or 40 years ago,” he said, “and it can be different from my memory.” And it could be one where maybe there is a collaboration.”
Simmons’ family problems became public last year when his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons and daughter Aoki Lee Simmons aired their grievances with him in June.
Aoki claimed that he had verbally abused her, sharing text messages and screenshots of her communications with her father.
Kimora and Aoki criticized Russell Simmons in June, when they took to social media to complain about his behavior.
Aoki explained to Teen Vogue in September her reason for going public with the details of her stormy relationship with her father, saying that he had negatively impacted her mental health with his mercurial behavior.
“Some of this was already there,” Aoki said. “There were reasons why I thought it was reasonable to release it because it was developing in a quiet bubble.”
In June, Aoki posted text messages and videos of his interactions with his father to describe their fractured relationship.
She said the Def Jam co-founder had been “terrible to her for years” and that she had had significant anxiety issues as a result.
Aoki said Russell, who previously tried in vain to salvage his reputation following allegations of sexual misconduct with an advertising campaign, has not been feeling well “for years.”
She wrote: ‘He needs help and won’t take it. She refuses to acknowledge that he is not himself.
‘He has threatened and intimidated my sister, my grandmother, he has harassed my grandmother in the middle of the night because of her poor health, (he sent) a man to my sister’s apartment at 2 in the morning to scare her.’
Aoki said that Russell “attacks ANYONE who doesn’t say ‘oh Russell, everything’s fine'”, adding: “Well, it’s not fine.”