Russell Simmons. Photo courtesy of Variety.
Summary: Last week, Russell Simmons was sued for allegedly raping a mother after she met him at a concert.
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ legal woes continue as the count of women who have accused him of sexual assault has now reached over a dozen, according to USA Today. On Friday, the entrepreneur was sued in Los Angeles County Superior Court by an anonymous plaintiff who said he had raped her.
The plaintiff, only listed as “Jane Doe,” said that Simmons had raped her, and she is seeking $10 million in damages for forcible rape, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Jane Doe said that she met Simmons at a concert that she attended with her son. She said that after she dropped off her child, she and Simmons spent time together and ended up back at his hotel, where he allegedly forced himself on her.
The plaintiff said that Simmons had invited her to his hotel room under the guise of an “after party,” according to Deadline.
“Assured by Simmons’ lies, Jane accompanied Simmons to his, Jane accompanied Simmons to his room,” the suit stated. “After entering the room, Simmons shut the door and said, “I am going to f__k you.” Plaintiff said she had no intention of having sexual relations with Simmons, but he replied “I am going to f__k you or I’m going to f__k your son. You decide.”
Simmons has denied raping his accusers, and he said that he has passed lie detector tests to prove his innocence.
“They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women,” Simmons said to USA Today. “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.”
Last year, powerful Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, and these allegations destroyed his career. His downfall led to numerous other alleged victims coming forward to accuse powerful men in all industries, and Simmons was one of them.
So far, Simmons has been accused of sexual misconduct by publicist Kelly Cutrone, filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik, and several others. These women came forward after model Keri Claussen Khalighi told the Los Angeles Times in November that Simmons had raped her in the presence of Brett Ratner in 1991 when she was 17 years old.
In December, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told USA Today that they were investigating Simmons.
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