Russell Simmons sued for $10M by new rape accuser
Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons has been slapped with a $10 million lawsuit alleging that he raped a woman after a concert. The newest sexual misconduct allegation filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday has Simmons shook following a series of other abuse allegations by multiple women, reports the LATimes.
Simmons, who has been the subject of multiple sexual abuse allegations from women and stepped down from his Def Jam records and his other businesses, maintains his innocence.
“I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women,” he said in the statement.
“I have submitted myself to multiple lie detector tests. I denied forced sex and sexual harassment allegations brought against me in each test; I also answered no to the question, ‘Have you ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse?’ I passed all of the lie detector tests.”
In the lawsuit, the unnamed California woman claims that Simmons raped her in his hotel room after a concert. She said she attended the concert because her son was a fan of the rap artist who was performing. She said Simmons approached her and invited her and her son backstage for a meet and greet. Simmons, she claims, invited her to an after-party so she dropped her son off at a baby-sitter and later when to the Coco Palms nightclub for the party. Afterwards, Simmons allegedly invited her back to his hotel room.
Once there, Simmons the plaintiff said that Simmons threatened her saying: “I am going to [expletive] you.” She said she declined but he continued his advances by saying: “I am going to [expletive] you or I’m going to [expletive] your son.”
The woman claims that’s when Simmons took advantage of her, threw her on the bed and proceeded to rape her. According to the suit, she left the hotel room crying and told several people about what occurred. The woman is seeking $10 million in damages.
Other Rape Accusations
Sherri Hines, told the Los Angeles Times last year that Simmons had raped her in his New York office when she was part of the Mercedes Ladies hip-hop group.
Hines later recalled on Megyn Kelly’s daytime talk show how she was only 17 or 18 when Simmons invited her into his office. She said that she went because she thought he wanted to talk about a record deal.
READ MORE: Amanda Seales says Russell Simmons asked her this very inappropriate question
Instead, she said, she was “pinned down” on his couch and raped.
“The way I felt at the time was…I can’t believe this man just violated me like I was nothing,” she told Kelly.
The second woman has chosen to remain anonymous. According to TMZ, who reported on the police reports, the alleged rape took place in 1991 after the woman and Russell Simmons had gone out on a date.
TMZ reported that the woman said she was 32 when they went back to his Manhattan home together. She claimed that he tried to take off her dress while they were seated on the couch, but she rejected his advances. He then pushed her down and forcibly raped her.
The site also reported that, of the 14 women accusing Simmons of rape, 7 of them are working with the NYPD. Since there is no statute of limitations in New York for rape, even older assaults can still be investigated.
Simmons denies the allegations
Russell Simmons has stepped down from his company. He continues to maintain his innocence and has denied that he ever raped anyone.
He even used the hashtag #NotMe in a social media post claiming he was using it to clear his name. The post received massive backlash for appearing to co-opt the #MeToo movement.
“My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable,” Russell Simmons explained.
READ MORE: Russell Simmons takes lie detector test to disprove assault allegation
