Renowned music executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid is being sued by a former Arista executive who accuses him of sexual assault, an experience she recounted in the Max original documentary On The Record.
Reid is known for co-founding LaFace Records and serving as the former head of Arista, Epic, and Def Jam Records. In 2020, Max released the On The Record documentary where former Def Jam and Arista exec Drew Dixon recounted instances of sexual assault and harassment at the hands of her former bosses, Reid and Russell Simmons.
Now, three years after the documentary’s release, Dixon is calling Reid out with a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and harassment during her time working for him at Arista Records, Variety reports. The suit, filed Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Manhattan’s Federal District Court, accuses Reid of assaulting her twice in the early 2000s.
Dixon says after declining his advances, Reid allegedly retaliated against her by forcing her to miss out on signing or developing artists such as John Legend. She left the company in 2002 and ultimately ended her career in music after back-to-back alleged sexual assault experiences with Reid and Simmons, whom she worked under at Def Jam.
Reid allegedly “retaliated against her by embarrassing her in front of others or otherwise being curt and unprofessional,” the suit states. “Promotional and recording budgets were suddenly reduced dramatically or frozen altogether. Song demos and artist auditions were flatly rejected.”
“It was very clear that I was being punished because I would not comply,” she told The New York Times
.Dixon claims Simmons assaulted her in 1995. She came forward with her assault allegations in 2017, claims he denies. She is still evaluating her legal options for suing Simmons, she tells The New York Times.
“I have an opportunity now to seek some degree of accountability,” Dixon says. “And that’s really what I’m trying to do.”
Reid, who now runs his company Mega, through Gamma, has not responded to the suit. Dixon’s case falls under New York’s recently passed Adult Survivors Act, which allows alleged victims who were over 18 when the abuse occurred a one-year window for civil lawsuits. The window closes on Nov. 24.
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