Russell Simmons Sued For Defamation By Former Def Jam Recordings Executive

Russell Simmons has actually been sued for defamation for purportedly attempting to weaken sexual offense allegations made versus him.

Drew Dixon, a former Def Jam Recordings executive that affirms she was raped by the songs magnate in 1995, asserts in a suit submitted on Thursday in New york city’s state Supreme Court that Simmons taken part in a “concerted and malicious campaign to discredit” her with the purpose of damaging her rape allegations. To name a few declarations, Simmons stated in a meeting on a podcast in December, “Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame” and “I’ve never been forceful in any of my relationships,” every one of which were“consensual.”

The grievance was submitted on the heels of an additional match versus Simmons for sexual offense and battery from an ex-executive at the tag he cofounded, that sued as a Jane Doe.

In 1995, Dixon claims Simmons welcomed her to his home under the role of paying attention to a brand-new demonstration, the match claims. There, he purportedly pinned her down on a bed and raped her.

Adhering to the claimed attack, Dixon claims she informed her pals, several of whom understood Simmons’ “continuous pattern of sexual assault against her” yet did not report it to police out of anxiety of vengeance from the songs magnate. She surrendered quickly after.

A few of her claims were released in 2017 by The New York City Times in a tale narrating several claimed rapes bySimmons 3 years later on, Dixon was the topic of a docudrama, On the Document, fixating allegations of sexual assault and harassment versus the songs magnate.

In December, Simmons was talked to on Detailed With Graham Besinger. He stated on the podcast, to name a few points,“If you slept with as many people as I slept with. Thousands. And we’re talking about six people.”

According to the grievance, Simmons made the declarations with the purpose of targeting the females that had actually openly charged him of sexual offense, that includes Dixon.

“In their full context, Mr. Simmons’s statements have the effect of accusing Ms. Dixon and the ‘six people[’s]’ accounts of lying about being sexually assaulted by Mr. Simmons; that their recollection of the assault did not match his; and implying that Ms. Dixon lied about her account of the assault because she ‘le[ft] and fe[lt] hurt’ or ‘thirst[ed] for fame, even infamous,’” the grievance states.

Dixon likewise differs with Simmons strengthening his allegations by guiding the job interviewer to call Oprah Winfrey, an executive manufacturer of On the Document that he declared drew her recommendation from the title at his advising in 2019, according to the match.

“He has continued in his campaign to discredit Ms. Dixon, referring to the ‘main accuser’ from On the Record and calling her a liar for making the account of the assault public—defamation that started in December 2019 has continued until today,” composes Kenya Davis, an attorney for Dixon, in the grievance. “This defamation has reached all the way up the ladder to the pinnacle of the leadership circle, not only including Ms. Winfrey, but other founding board members of Time’s Up, including some of our nation’s most powerful women spanning industries from business to politics to entertainment.”

By weakening her trustworthiness, Dixon says that she can not earn a living at a degree compatible with her experience and record in the songs sector. She asserts Simmons’ defamation has actually seized her reentry right into the show business.

The grievance looks for an unrevealed quantity in problems, that includes compensatory damages for destructive conduct.

The match versus Simmons submitted on Tuesday charged the songs magnate of raping a former Def Jam elderly songs executive at his home in the 1990s. She likewise declared her job was delayed by Simmons’ organized harassment of her.

In November, Dixon sued Antonio “L.A.” Reid, a Grammy-winning songs executive understood for aiding introduce the jobs of Usher, OutKast and Pink, for sexual offense and revenge. She declared he attacked her on 2 celebrations, after which he blocked her job for rejecting more advancements.