Russell Simmons has been sued by a former Def Jam video producer over claims of rape and sexual assault that took place in the 1990s.
Billboard obtained the complaint filed to New York Federal Court on Tuesday (Feb. 12), which was filed under “Jane Doe” to protect the victim’s identity. She detailed the “devastating” experiences with the music mogul that led to her career being “derailed.”
Doe alleged that she was raped in the late ’90s by Simmons at his Manhattan apartment when she visited him at his residence to receive approval for a video.
While in his bedroom, she claimed that Simmons pinned her down with a “wrestling” move and proceeded to rape her despite her repeatedly professing her desire for him to stop his unwanted sexual advances.
Ms. Doe tried to continue her executive job at Def Jam but she suffered alleged panic attacks and developed an eating disorder and eventually moved across the country to California seeking new opportunities in 1997.
She left three jobs throughout the two-year period following the alleged sexual assault at the hands of Simmons in part due to her crippling anxiety.
“As detailed in the complaint, our client was sexually assaulted and harassed by her boss, Russell Simmons, while pursuing her professional ambitions as an executive at Def Jam,” Doe’s attorney Kenya Davis relayed in a statement.
“She was proud of her contributions to the burgeoning musical genre of hip hop, but her hard work and her career in music was disrupted and derailed by Mr. Simmons, a rich and powerful celebrity whose wealth and influence allowed his abusive behavior to go unchallenged for decades. Now a successful writer and producer in the entertainment industry, Jane Doe’s traumatic experiences with Simmons echo those of so many other women who he has preyed upon for decades.”
Over the years, Jane Doe had encounters with Russell Simmons in various social settings and even ran into him at a yoga studio in Los Angeles circa March 2023. While they didn’t speak much in previous encounters, she asked if it was OK to practice next to him when he allegedly replied in a whisper, “Of course. What, do you think I’m gonna try and f— you?”
With the “lookback window” of New York’s Adult Survivors Act reopening, Jane Doe had the opportunity to file the federal lawsuit with the state where otherwise the statute of limitations would have expired. She’s suing Simmons for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.
Russell Simmons has been named the perpetrator in other sexual assault-related lawsuits in recent years. Since 2017’s allegations, multiple women have come forward recounting similar experiences with the Def Jam Records co-founder. He has maintained his innocence and claims to have passed “nine lie detector tests.”