by Jeroslyn JoVonn
April 10, 2024
Russell Simmons wants Drew Dixon’s defamation lawsuit dismissed since his past comments on sexual assault were allegedly “not defamatory.”
Russell Simmons is attempting to get Drew Dixon’s defamation lawsuit against him dismissed since his past comments on sexual assault were allegedly “not defamatory as a matter of law.”
The hip-hop mogul is firing back at the defamation suit he was served with at his wellness resort in Bali, Indonesia last month asking that it be dismissed without prejudice, Radar Online reports. Simmons claims his remarks about sexual assault on the podcast “In Depth With Graham Basinger” in December 2023 were in no way defamatory toward Dixon and were just his opinion.
The Def Jam founder’s new filing argues that the “statements alleged in the Complaint are defamatory as a matter of law, because all the statements are opinion — not fact — and Plaintiff is not clearly identifiable in any of the statements.”
In Dixon’s lawsuit that Simmons was served with on March 5, she highlights his comments made on the podcast where he seemingly tried to discredit his alleged rape victims by insinuating the encounters were consensual and some women might’ve just walked away offended.
“Yeah, [rape is] a serious word, but I think they’ve changed the meaning,” he told Basinger. “If you had more foursomes than most guys at once, could someone leave and feel hurt? Could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame, even infamous.”
Simmons claims to have “never been forceful” during his sexual encounters but admitted to being “insensitive.” However, Dixon has publicly accused Simmons of sexually assaulting her during her time working as a record executive at Def Jam in the 90s. She gave details of the alleged assault in the 2020 HBO Max documentary “On the Record.”
According to her lawsuit, Dixon believes Simmons has “gone on a concerted and malicious campaign to discredit Ms. Dixon and to so damage her reputation.”
“This defamation has exacerbated the paralyzation of Ms. Dixon professionally,” the suit claims, adding that Simmons “subjected Ms. Dixon to public ridicule, contempt, and disgrace by, among other things, calling Ms. Dixon a liar in published statements with the malicious intent of discrediting and further damaging Ms. Dixon worldwide.”
But Simmons says the suit should be dismissed since he was speaking generally on the podcast while addressing sexual assault claims against him and never mentioned Dixon by name. During the podcast, Simmons professed his innocence against the multiple women accusing him of rape by noting the “nine lie detector tests” he’s allegedly taken which he claims prove that he’s “never done this to anyone.”
Dixon is also suing record executive L.A. Reid for sexual abuse in a lawsuit that Simmons has been named in.
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