Russell Simmons Sued For Alleged Rape Of Former Def Jam Exec

Russell Simmons is being sued for sexual harassment and battery by a former Def Jam executive who says he raped her in the 1990s.

Russell Simmons is being sued for sexual harassment and battery by a former Def Jam executive who claims he raped her in the 1990s.

The suit was filed by a “Jane Doe” who worked at Def Jam in the ’90s as a senior music executive and video producer, per The Hollywood Reporter. The woman, who now works as a writer and producer, claims Simmons invited her to his New York City apartment to approve a music video.

While there, Simmons allegedly started to “wrestle” with her “in an attempt to appear playful,” but the “situation escalated into aggression,” with the Def Jam founder pinning her down on a bed, the suit states.

“Ms. Doe repeatedly told Mr. Simmons to get off of her, but he refused,” according to the complaint. “Mr. Simmons proceeded to rape her.”

After the attack, the accuser struggled with frequent panic attacks, depression, and anxiety while on the job where Simmons also allegedly harassed her.

“He would sit on her desk, lean over her, aggressively invading her personal space while making sexual innuendos, suggestions, and advances, and rubbing the front of his pants,” the complaint states. “Mr. Simmons would follow Ms. Doe to the door or block her path to prevent her from opening it again.”

The harassment allegedly got so bad that a senior executive would tell Simmons to leave the accuser’s office. The accuser eventually resigned from Def Jam in 1997 and went on to work as an executive producer for TV and commercial production companies.

The suit follows rape allegations made by former Def Jam exec Drew Dixon, who publicly accused Simmons of sexual assault in 2017 before outlining the alleged attack in the 2020 documentary On The Record. Dixon went on to work as an executive at Arista Records, where she claims to have been harrassed by L.A. Reid.

Last year, Dixon sued Reid for sexual assault and retaliation after he allegedly hindered her career after she refused his advances. Reid recently filed a response requesting all documents related to Dixon’s abuse allegations against Simmons.

The “Jane Doe” behind Simmons’ rape lawsuit joins a long list of women who have accused the hip-hop mogul of sexual misconduct. In December, Simmons sat down for an interview where he denied rape allegations made by at least 18 women, saying he took “nine lie detector tests” that allegedly proved he’s “never done this to anyone.”

Simmons has been living in Bali, Indonesia, since the rape and sexual misconduct allegations from the 1980s to early 2000s first started to come out against him in 2017.