Music mogul Russell Simmons, has been accused of rape by 3 women.
One of the women, Drew Dixon told the New York Times she was working as an executive at Def Jam Recordings in 1995 when Simmons raped her in his downtown Manhattan apartment after a prolonged campaign of sexual harassment.
Another woman Tina Baker, a singer who had Simmons as her manager back in the early 90s, claims the multi-millionaire sexually assaulted her after inviting her back to his place to ‘discuss her career’.
Instead, she claims, he pinned he on the bed and raped her.
‘I did nothing, I shut my eyes and waited for it to end,’ she said, adding that she was so distraught she didn’t sing for a year afterwards.
Music journalist Toni Sallie shared a very similar story after she went to interview the powerful entertainment mogul in the late 1980s.
She claims he invited her back to his apartment for a party he said he was hosting for his girlfriend. But when she arrived, it was just the two of them. Sallie says that, despite her repeated protestations, he forced himself on her and raped her.
The women all say they were too scared to report the alleged sexual assaults at the time, but have come forward in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo campaign.
The trio are not the first to accuse Simmons of sexual assault.
Just last month, Sidney Lumet’s daughter Jenny, an actress and screenwriter, accused Simmons of forcing her to have sex with him after allegedly locking her in his car and taking her to his apartment against her will in 1991.
And earlier this year, former model Keri Claussen Khalighi claims she too was assaulted by him in the same apartment as Brett Ratner watched.
Simmons, 60, who stepped down from music, fashion and media empire last month after Lumet’s claims, strenuously denies all the allegations.
‘I vehemently deny all these allegations,’ he said in a statement. ‘These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.’
He claims that one woman had ‘attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim.’
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