Russell Simmons has been accused of raping three women, according to a report by the New York Times. On the heels of the report, an article by the Los Angeles Times has revealed five more women who are accusing Simmons of sexual misconduct.
The new accusations come a month after Keri Claussen Khalighi claimed she was sexually assaulted by Simmons in 1991 and screenwriter Jenny Lumet revealed she was another alleged victim of the Def Jam co-founder.
Among the new accusers in the New York Times’ report are two music executives and one singer who worked with Simmons during their respective careers. All three paint a picture of feeling powerless due to his influence in the music industry.
Drew Dixon, who worked at Def Jam, says she was a constant target of Simmons’ harassment at work. He allegedly told her how she aroused him, asked her to sit on his lap and exposed his penis to her on a regular basis. She gave her key to a co-worker with instructions to barge in if Simmons closed her door.
“I was like: ‘If I ever buzz you, don’t pick up, don’t call me back — just open my door,” Dixon said. “That means Russell is in here and he whipped his [penis out].”
Simmons’ lawyer Brad D. Rose said his client admitted to engaging in “inappropriate conduct” with Dixon while she was at Def Jam. Dixon said she put up with it because she didn’t want to lose her chance at a career in the industry.
“I didn’t want to cut off my one conduit to having any hope of a career,” she told the New York Times. “I thought if I could survive long enough to have a hit — a real bona fide hit with my name on it — I would move categories.”
After Dixon began finding success in her career, Simmons allegedly raped her at his downtown apartment in 1995.
“The last thing I remember was him pinning me down to kiss me on the bed,” she said, noting that the last memory of the night was being naked next to Simmons in a bathtub.
Dixon told the New York Times she suffered from depression and eventually left the company due to Simmons’ actions. Simmons’ lawyer responded to the allegations by noting that his client “emphatically states that he did not have sex with her.”
After leaving for a job at Arista Records — where she allegedly faced more sexual harassment from L.A. Reid — Dixon threatened to sue Simmons for sexual harassment and money she was still owed from the label. She settled out of court in 1997.
“I was like, ‘I do not want to be famous for being sexually harassed by Russell Simmons,’” Dixon said. “I want to make records and be famous for that.”
Tina Baker, a singer who performed under the stage name Tina B and who was managed by Simmons, also emerged to accuse him of raping her. In the early ’90s, Simmons invited her to his apartment to talk about her career. The scene got “ugly pretty fast” according to her as he tried to kiss her, which led to a scuffle.
“[I remember] him on top of me, pushing me down and him saying, ‘Don’t fight me,’” Baker said. “I did nothing, I shut my eyes and waited for it to end.”
Since Simmons was still her manager, she later returned to his apartment for another meeting. There, he exposed his penis and made a move toward Baker, which prompted her to flee the scene. She eventually got out of her contract with Simmons but her career languished in the aftermath.
“I didn’t sing for almost a year,” Baker said. “I went into oblivion.”
Simmons said he “did everything he could to professionally promote her career.” His lawyer said his client had “no recollection of ever having any sexual relations with Ms. Baker.”
Toni Sallie met Simmons in 1987 while working as a music journalist for Black Radio Exclusive. The two went on a few dates in 1988 but didn’t pursue a romantic relationship. The two retained an amicable relationship afterward, which led to Simmons inviting Sallie to his Manhattan apartment under the pretense of a party for his girlfriend in fall 1988. When Sallie arrived, no one was there and Simmons escorted her to his bedroom.
“He pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me, and physically attacked me,” she said. “We were fighting. I said no.”
Sallie was too fearful of career consequences to report the incident to the police.
“If I went to the police, I didn’t know how that would turn out,” she said. “You have to understand, I was very much in a man’s game. Black women were just starting to break into the field.”
Simmons’ lawyer acknowledged his client and Sallie went on dates but said there was no non-consensual sex.
While working for Warner Bros. Records, Sallie encountered Simmons about a year later when she attended a conference in South Florida. She claims he tried to lead her to a dark beach and when she resisted, he attacked her. Simmons allegedly grabbed her by the hair and chased her into a bathroom before she escaped to her room.
Simmons’ lawyer denied this, saying, “At no time did Mr. Simmons conduct himself inappropriately.”
After the allegations about Simmons sexually assaulting Khalighi surfaced in November, Sallie finally reached out to the Manhattan district attorney’s office to officially accuse him. Law enforcement officials have said the statute of limitations has passed but Sallie and another anonymous accuser were referred to the New York Police Department’s Special Victims Unit to have a record of the allegations against Simmons.
In response to the Times’ report, Simmons issued a lengthy statement denying all of the allegations.
Read it below.
Russell Simmons Statement
“I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.
“I am blessed to have shared extraordinary relationships, whether through work or love, with many great women; and I have enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power. I am devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described. In recent weeks, some former business, creative and romantic partners have aired grievances as claims I categorically reject. In some of these instances, financial motives and direct contradictory witness testimony has been supplied to the media, which has been completely left out of stories. In the last few days, one woman attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim. The current allegations sent to me by The New York Times range from the patently untrue to the frivolous and hurtful. The presumption of innocent until proven guilty must not be replaced by “Guilty by Accusation.”
“I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction. I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women. What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. I have conducted my life with a message of peace and love. Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence.”
Read the full reports by the L.A. Times and the New York Times.
He’s done
Real talk. His fam and Run are pretty quiet on this.
That’s why I think he separated himself from his businesses and charities. Even if he’s innocent, the accusations only are enough to ruin all future business ventures.
HAHAHAHA! This PC idiot libtard moron is being canabilized by his own people. LOL. Your black, yet you’re life obviously doesn’t matter. TOMA!! The irony. That’s pedo smile and all of the pink button ups are starting to make a lot of sense right now…
What are you taking about you idiot? No matter the color of your skin if you did something like this his “ppl” should throw him to the wolves like anybody else’s…
The connotation is that black people in today’s libtard PC society can’t do any wrong. Do you live in Canada or some shit? A twice convicted felon carrying a concealed weapon is shot after being repeatedly warned and razed, and this idiot was up in arms saying police brutality, racism etc. the race card doesn’t work when vagina is involved. This shit will soon hit the NBA and NFL. All those fuckasses taking a knee will be taking a number at the unemployment office. Hahahahaha! I’m so happy all of this PC bullshit is fucking itself over. He DINDUNUFFIN!
Damn! Russell Simmons is my man but if he did it. He should go to jail. You can’t violate women and expect to get away with it. I’m glad women have more power and money so they feel emboden to tell their stories.
I bet he used Rush Cards as hush money.
Lmao! You just had to go there didn’t you! But on the real, can’t help but feel for his kids right about now. It changes the relationships. More so for his daughters. Wondering if Kimmora has something to say. One can’t help but think she might know some sides of him as well, or if she dealt with similar situations.
Shit, Kimora may have even been a victim. She was a teenager when they met, not sure if she was of consensual age but sounds like a little too close regardless.
women are always praised for all dignity and shit but they will get you for your money believe me….Even the Devil was once an angel but he now FUCKING THE WORLD GOOD…true.
You must really hate your mother. Sad!
And that includes you mother too boy…They all bitches,if i show your mom this $800k in cash with me right now….she wouldnt hesitate jumping on this fat black dick bruh..haha bitches gon be bitches..where do you live boy? if u was living here i wud easily show you what mean…BELIEVE ME
Come on over whenever.
am in zone 1 atlanta where you at boy? or you living around here? no you seem white your ass cant be from around here…where you at???
I’m in Decatur. Drop on by!
Be specific! i wil be dea tmoro think am playing? i’ll hop on that jet gotta move this birds first
You want to get brunch? We could get brunch.
oh why u scared now? you talking food shit now huh? damn you so scared lil bruh…ok how bout ramen noodles with your mom’s pussy and sum ketchup
Okay, so brunch is out. Where would you like to meet? Big hug!
give me your number,we talk straight up. address and shit. tmoro i be dea….or i send you 40k you fly down here with her and make it look like a vacation..then you will link me up with her like a friend then from there leave it up to me so i prove you HOW THINGS HAPPEN
Are there many flights from Decatur to Zone 1 Atlanta?
I dont knw bout flights from your place…and not to zone 1! to Tbilisi or where ever you will land.you still need money or what? give me your credit number
Yo bruh am sorry bout going over your mom like that i knw it aint cool,you saying i hate my mom it just reminds me how my mom left us me and my lil bro when we was 11 just to go spend her life with a rich guy just cause the guy said he dont want kids so guess what? mom had to dump us out her life so she could live in peace with the guy,she left us in these cold streets.we came up from nothing selling shit to survive but we survived,them mom heard we were making thousands every week then its when she started reaching out saying how she sorry…we wouldnt even listen to her,so you see how this shit be…you were right i hate my mother..i just have a troubled background cause of her…just for the love of money she never gave a shit about us.look am sorry bout talking bout your mom like that…”And to every one who was offended by my comment in this section”..yo lets be cool forget about this though i was serious but hell am sorry…i can still send you this 40 u come over and we have a good time,be friends or sumthing…and sorry bout the racist shit…i just reflected back that time when we were left then us black people were being mistreated,just around time mom left.was just a terrible begining in my life
Love means never having to say you’re sorry. Now come on in for a hug!
Haha yea yeah i guess so bro
Lmao motherfucker lifes not TMZ you broke fuck haha $800K for what draining dicks $1 a piece
Hard to believe these women. Shit supposedly happened in the 1990s.
Hard to believe a baby born without a brain would live long enough to write a comment on this website, but there you have it.
So AFTER he’s been harassing you and pulling his dick out at work, you still somehow end up naked in his bathtub with him, but you weren’t there for sex tho..all of these stories/accusations sound like bullshit extortion
Old Uncle Russell is being cast out by the powers that be keep it real they cant use him any more so look around people certain ones will always fall just keep your eyes and ears open its coming
are you high son?
I hate to say it, but dude sounds guilty. Was the screenshot of the email he sent Terry Crews sent by the powers that be? I wish it wasnt true, especially him, but it sounds like it is.
Writings on the walls man…
Shit reminds me how I felt at first about the Bambaataa allegations. I didn’t want to accept it at first because of his importance to hip hop history but it became too much and was like fuck this loser.
I forgot to mention Louis CK exposes himself to me in 2013. I want a check for that too. #metoo
Daddy drake would never do that to me.
A lotof women look for payday. N*ggaz digging dirt from 3 decades ago. Feminist propaganda. YeahYeah Russell is douche lot probably true..but why you crying 30yrs later. 80s n 90s was different time, this stuff was art of the industryindustry. American women waging war on men