A total of 18 women have now accused music producer and entrepreneurRussell Simmonsof sexual misconduct.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Simmons, 60, “vehemently” denies all the allegations, saying that all his “relations have been consensual” and the “horrific accusations have shocked me to my core.”
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“I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction. I have re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working on behalf of the communities to which I have devoted my life. I have accepted that I can and should get dirt on my sleeves if it means witnessing the birth of a new consciousness about women. What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done. I have conducted my life with a message of peace and love. Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence,” he concludes.
Below is a complete list of sexual misconduct allegations against Simmons:
JENNIFER JAROSIK
Jennifer Jarosik, an aspiring filmmaker, sued the music mogul for $5 million alleging Simmons raped her in his home in 2016, according toThe Blast.
Jarosik alleged she met Simmons in New York City in 2006 after which he agreed to co-produce, finance and assist on a documentary she was making about empowering women.
She claims she was invited to Simmons’ home in Beverly Hills after she moved to Los Angeles in 2016. The Blast reported Simmons asked if they could have sex after she arrived. She allegedly declined his request which caused him to become “aggressive.”
Simmons allegedly pushed her on the bed, “pounced on her” and “proceeded to rape her,” the outlet reported.
A rep for Simmons was not immediately available for comment.
JANE DOE
An unidentified woman sued Simmons for $10 million, accusing him of alleged rape and emotional distress, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
The lawsuit against the music producer alleges the woman went to a rap and hip-hop concert with her son when she accepted Simmons’ invitation to an afterparty at his hotel, the magazine reported.
There, the woman claims Simmons brought her to his hotel room and allegedly raped her.
In a statement from his rep, Simmons denies the allegations to PEOPLE, saying, “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. 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.”
SHERRI HINES
In an interview with theLos Angeles Times, Hines — who was part of the hip-hop group Mercedes Ladies — alleges Simmons raped her in his office around 1983 after running into him at a nightclub in New York.
Hines reportedly told a friend that same day about the alleged rape and also confided in her sister the same year. In her 2008 novelMercedes Ladies, the main character Shelly Shel undergoes a similar experience with a powerful businessman named Ron.
TMZ reportsHines filed a criminal complaint in late December.
LISA KIRK
Kirk was partying at Carmelita’s Reception House in NYC with Simmons in 1988 when he followed her into a restroom and “tore” her clothes after pushing her into a stall, she claims in an interview with theLos Angeles Times.
When Simmons began to take his penis out of his pants, Kirk told the outlet they made eye contact and he “literally ran out of the bathroom.” She claims she recently told two friends about the alleged incident, after having blocked out the memory for years.
TONI SALLIE
The Black Radio Exclusive reporter told theNew York Timesshe met Simmons while on assignment and that the two went on a few dates before she decided they were not a match.
In 1988, she was invited to his Manhattan apartment for a party held in honor of Simmons’ then-girlfriend, but when she arrived, only Simmons was there, she told the outlet.
“He pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me, and physically attacked me,” she recalled. “We were fighting. I said no.” Sallie reportedly told two friends and a colleague about the attack.
TINA BAKER
Under the guise of discussing her singing career, Baker went back to Simmons’ apartment, she told theNew York Times.
She had been there several times before “without incident,” but one night in late 1990 or early 1991, “it all got really ugly, pretty fast,” she told the outlet. Simmons poured drinks for her and tried to kiss her; soon he was “on top of me, pushing me down and him saying, ‘Don’t fight me,'” she said. “I did nothing, I shut my eyes and waited for it to end.”
She later told her ex-husband, her psychologist, another therapist and a former roommate about the alleged rape.
Still tied to Simmons professionally, Baker returned to his apartment for a business meeting during which he pulled out his penis, she claims. “I didn’t have sex with a man for almost nine years. I went into a cocoon,” the singer-turned-lawyer told theTimes.
KERI CLAUSSEN KHALIGHI
According to theLos Angeles Times, Khalighi was 17 years old in 1991when Simmons allegedly assaulted her in his apartmentwhile Brett Ratner looked on.
“I looked over at Brett and said ‘help me’ and I’ll never forget the look on his face,” she told the outlet. “In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together. I fought it wildly.”
JENNY LUMET
In a guest column forTheHollywood Reporter,The Mummyscreenwriter Jenny Lumet wrote that Simmons pursued her “on and off” over the years. After dining at a restaurant called Indochine one night in 1991 when she was 24 years old, Simmons offered her a ride home but then took her to his apartment.
“You used your size to maneuver me, quickly, into the elevator,” wrote Lumet in the column. “You pressed me into the corner with your body, your hands and your mouth.”
After allegedly moving her into the bedroom and closing the door, “there was penetration,” wrote Lumet, who allegedly kept the incident to herself until Oct. 27 this year.
In response to Lumet’s column, Simmons released a statement sayinghe is stepping down from his businessesbut denied ever being violent.
DREW DIXON
Dixon alleges his behavior culminated in rape one day in his Manhattan apartment. “I was broken,” she told theTimes, adding that Simmons allegedly pinned her to his bed and she later woke up naked in his hot tub after blacking out despite not having any alcohol.
NATASHIA WILLIAMS-BLACH
She was 18 years old at the time and removed herself from the situation after telling him she had to go to study hall at UCLA, where she was a student, she told the outlet.
ERIN BEATTIE
While working as a massage therapist at the Alexis Hotel in Seattle in 2005, Beattie claims Simmons exposed himself to her and asked her to touch his penis during a session, she told theLos Angeles Times.
The next day, Simmons again hired her and though he didn’t expose himself this time, he allegedly “laced their conversation with sexual and racial innuendos,” according to the outlet.
Simmons’ attorney told theTimeshe recalled he and Beattie joking about a “happy ending” to his massage, as well as making “racial and sexual” jokes. Responded Beattie: “It was not a joke.”
CHRISTINA MOORE
After immediately starting a bath, Simmons allegedly pushed her up against a column in the room and ran his hands “all over my body, up and down,” she told the outlet. “I felt assaulted.”
Simmons allegedly told her she was a bad girl and threatened to tie her up; Moore and her friend then “bolted,” reports theTimes.
AMANDA SEALES
TheInsecurestar met Simmons last September for a business meeting at his office when Simmons allegedly used vulgar language to ask if they had ever had sex, she told theLos Angeles Times.
When she said “No,” Simmons responded: “Oh, right. ‘Cause I would’ve remembered that, right?” she told theTimes.
KAREN RUSSELL
When the unnamed teacher reported Simmons’ alleged harassment to management, she was told it was a common occurrence, the teacher told theTimes. “You have to understand, we go back to the Def Jam days. This is Russell, he loves young models,” the teacher recalled being told.
Russell told theTimesshe left her position after nine months because he was too “demanding” and called her at “All hours,” screaming and yelling about why the studio wasn’t more successful.
Via his lawyer, Simmons called Russell a “disgruntled former employee” and denied any complaints about his behavior from employees.
KELLY CUTRONE
ANONYMOUS
According to TMZ, an anonymous woman claimed Simmons raped her at his Manhattan home following a date in 1991. She alleged he attempted to remove her dress while the two sat on a couch, and then forcibly raped her when she rejected his advances. She reportedly filed a criminal complaint with the NYPD in late December.
SIL LAI ABRAMS
In aninterview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Abrams claimed Simmons, whom she said she met in 1989 and began a casual sexual relationship with in the years following, allegedly raped her in 1994.
“I needed to tell my story, to say his name out loud, to let people know what he had done to me,” Abrams said, adding that she wanted to dispel the “one-and-done idea of assault.”
ALEXIA NORTON JONES
Jones, the granddaughter of famed book publisher W. W. Norton,toldVarietythat Simmons raped her in November 1990 after the two had gone out on a date night. “It was such a fast attack,” she toldVariety. “He pulled my dress up. I must have said no seven to 10 times,” she claimed in an interview with the magazine. Jones said despite the case falling outside the statute of limitations for felonies, she still filed a police report with the NYPD in spring 2017.
source: people.com
