Legendary hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is facing yet another accusation of sexual assault by a former employee.
On Feb. 13, a lawsuit was filed in New York federal court for sexual harassment by a former Def Jam Recordings executive who chose to file under Jane Doe. In the lawsuit, the woman — who worked at the storied label in the 1990s — alleges a number of infractions including battery, emotional distress, false imprisonment, and a violation of New York’s gender-based violence law.
In one incident, the plaintiff claims Simmons invited her to his apartment to discuss business where he began forcefully play wrestling with her before pinning her down on his bed.
“Ms. Doe repeatedly told Mr. Simmons to get off of her, but he refused,” state the court documents. “Mr. Simmons proceeded to rape her.”
Other alleged bouts of workplace harassment by Simmons were said to follow, sometimes in spite of others stepping in and encouraging Simmons to stop, until the plaintiff resigned from the label in 1997.
“He would sit on her desk, lean over her, aggressively invading her personal space while making sexual innuendos, suggestions, and advances, and rubbing the front of his pants,” the lawsuit reads. “Mr. Simmons would follow Ms. Doe to the door or block her path to prevent her from opening it again.”
“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,” the plaintiff’s attorney Kenya K. Davis told HipHopDX. “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.”
Simmons has been fighting off sexual assault allegations for some time. Last year in an interview with journalist Graham Bensinger, the Phat Farm founder admitted to not always being the perfect gentleman but denied any illegal wrongdoing and cited the numerous polygraph tests he’s volunteered to take as proof.
“I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that,” he told Bensinger. “Nine separate — seven from the chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each serious accusation. Three hours per test by two polygraph examiners — one that I’ve never done this to anyone and one, I’ve never done to each individual.”
