Russell Simmons Sued For Alleged Rape In The ’90s
Russell Simmons is being sued by a former Def Jam Records employee after allegedly sexually assaulting her in 1990s. According to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, the woman who refers to herself as Jane Doe, “worked as a senior level music executive at Def Jam Recordings.”
Doe is suing Simmons for sexual battery/assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment.
Doe claimed that their relationship was professional, and when she first began to work at the recording company, Simmons was “not flirtatious” at all. However, suddenly Simmons “began to turn his rapacious attention toward Ms. Doe,” which reportedly included “invading her personal space while making sexual innuendos, suggestions, and advances, and rubbing the front of his pants.”
The assault allegedly occurred when “Ms. Doe brought to Mr. Simmons’s apartment a rough cut of a video she needed him to view for approval.” Simmons allegedly “aggressively and relentlessly flirted with Ms. Doe, made sexual innuendos and advances, asked sexually explicit questions, including personal questions about her sexual preferences and questioning if she was currently wearing a bra.”
Doe left Def Jam in 1997 and pursued a career in film and commercial production after moving from New York to California.
Doe’s attorney, Kenya K. Davis told PEOPLE in a statement that her “client was sexually assaulted and harassed by her boss, Russell Simmons” and that “[Doe] was proud of her contributions to the burgeoning musical genre of hip hop, but her hard work and her career in music was disrupted and derailed by Mr. Simmons, a rich and powerful celebrity whose wealth and influence allowed his abusive behavior to go unchallenged for decades. Now a successful writer and producer in the entertainment industry, Jane Doe’s traumatic experiences with Simmons echo those of so many other women who he has preyed upon for decades.”
Simons has not responded to Doe’s lawsuit at the time time of this writing.
