Russell Simmons has been sued by a former Def Jam Recordings executive for battery and sexual harassment.
The former executive claims the music mogul raped her at his apartment over 25 years ago.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the plaintiff remained anonymous as Jane Doe.
She filed the complaint on Tuesday, claiming Simmons’ systematic harassment stalled her career.
The Allegations Against Russell Simmons Are Serious
Russell Simmons allegedly asked his accuser to visit his New York apartment to approve a new video.
However, he wrestled her “in an attempt to appear playful” and the “situation escalated into aggression,” with Simmons pinning her down on his bed.
“Ms. Doe repeatedly told Mr. Simmons to get off of her, but he refused. Mr. Simmons proceeded to rape her.”
After the assault, the accuser failed to do her job because of anxiety, depression, and common panic attacks.
She stepped down shortly after in 1997.
The suit also accused Russell Simmons of harassing the accuser at the Def Jam offices.
“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.”
Allegedly, the harassment was so overbearing that a senior executive often asked Simmons to leave the accuser alone.
“Mr. Simmons would follow Ms. Doe to the door or block her path to prevent her from opening it again.”
The claims in the suit include false imprisonment, battery, violating New York’s gender-motivated violence law, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
Simmons’ accuser filed the suit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
Other high-profile figures accused under the Act include Jamie Foxx, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jimmy Iovine, Cuba Gooding Jr., and more.
This isn’t Russell Simmons’ first accusation.
In 2017, Drew Dixon, a former Def Jam and Arista Records executive, accused Simmons of raping her in 1995.
