In 2017, Russell Simmons was accused of sexual assault and hasn’t said much publicly since. Simmons has decided that now it is time to speak up and defend his name.
In an appearance on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” Simmons discussed the sexual assault accusations and detailed how many lie detector tests he took for each claim made about him. Since 2017, 18 women have made sexual harassment or rape allegations against Simmons.
“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 said that he’s slept with thousands of people and even had foursomes but, according to him, what someone can recollect from 30 or 40 years ago can be different from his recollection. He then mentioned undergoing lie-detector tests to prove his innocence.
“I took nine lie-detector tests — people don’t know that,” Simmons said. “Nine separate, seven from the chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each serious accusation.
“Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94% accurate. I did nine of them; it’s pretty clear that I don’t believe it. I even asked, ‘Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?’ He said, ‘Your subconscious will get you.’ I don’t know how true that is, but that’s what was told to me by the chairman of the Polygraph Association.”
Simmons claims that no one from the mainstream would mention the lie detector tests because there’s a narrative that “we don’t wanna go backward; we wanna believe women.”
