by Jeroslyn JoVonn
February 8, 2024
Russell Simmons is having his name dragged into the sexual abuse lawsuit against L.A. Reid due to his alleged sexual assault of the plaintiff.
Russell Simmons is having his name dragged into the sexual abuse lawsuit against L.A. Reid due to his alleged sexual assault of the plaintiff.
Reid’s legal team filed recent documents in Manhattan federal court requesting all documents and electronic messages related to Drew Dixon’s abuse allegations against Simmons, Radar Online reports. Dixon is suing Reid for allegedly assaulting her twice during her time working under him at Arista Records and retaliating against her when she turned down his advances.
Prior to working at Arista, Dixon worked at Def Jam with Russell Simmons where she claims to have been raped by the label’s co-founder in 1995. Dixon spoke candidly about her allegations against Simmons and Reid in the 2020 documentary “On The Record.”
Reid, the former head of Arista, Epic, and Def Jam Records, is planning to use Dixon’s allegations against Simmons in his defense. His team filed a joint discovery report requesting all “documents related to [Dixon] sexual assault or sexual harassment allegations against Russell Simmons, including public statements, legal correspondence, and any agreements.”
“[Dixon’s] communications with any individual regarding Defendant, Russell Simmons, and any other individuals who allegedly sexually harassed or assaulted her, and/or interfered with her career success.”
Reid also wants to see Dixon’s “psychological, psychiatric, therapeutic and/or counseling records.” He is repped by attorney Bobbi Sternheim, the same lawyer who served as the lead defense attorney for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
The music exec is also repped by Los Angeles defense attorney Shawn Holley, who represented convicted rapist and Scientologist Danny Masterson. He “anticipates objecting and/or moving to quash if the parties are unable to reach agreement on limiting the scope of the served discovery,”
Meanwhile, Simmons remains in Bali, Indonesia where he continues to deny all allegations made by Dixon and the 17 other women who accuse him of sexaul assault. In December, Simmons broke his silence on the allegations and claimed to have undergone “nine lie detector tests,” that he believes confirm that he’s “never done this to anyone.”
“I’ve never been violent to anybody,” Simmons said. “Of course I’ve been insensitive, but certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships, all of which I’ve had have been consensual.”
Simmons who admitted to having “slept” with “thousands” of people says he might have different recollections of what transpired than the people he slept with.
“I was in so many compromising situations that people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago, and it can be different from my recollection,” he said.
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