Rape lawsuit against Russell Simmons dropped but he still faces multiple accusers
A $5 million lawsuit filed against Russell Simmons by a woman who says he raped her, has been dismissed.
Jennifer Jarosik, a filmmaker alleges he raped her in 2016 after inviting her to his home under the guise of discussing a documentary project, filed the lawsuit in January. On Wednesday, Jarosik’s and Simmons’ attorney came to an agreement to have the case dismissed “with prejudice” which prevents it from ever being filed again—but no other explanation was given, reports the LATimes.
It remains to be seen if Simmons reached a monetary settlement out of court to shut down the allegations.
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Simmons, who has been the subject of multiple sexual abuse allegations from women, 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.”
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And while the dropping of this case doesn’t mean that Russell Simmons is completely in the clear, someone should probably tell T.I. who took to social media to congratulate the disgraced mogul.
T.I. wrote: “If only the Truth traveled as fast as the BS… @UncleRUSH congrats on your exoneration!!!”
If only the Truth traveled as fast as the BS… ?? @UncleRUSH congrats on your exoneration!!! pic.twitter.com/BBrHN2nxld
— T.I. (@Tip) April 25, 2018
Other accusations
Multiple women have come forward to allege they were attacked by Russell Simmons in the 1980s and 1990s.
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.
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Instead, she said, she was “pinned down” on his couch and raped.
TMZ reports 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.
