Multi-Million Dollar Rape Lawsuit against Russell Simmons Dropped

Russell Simmons. Photo courtesy of Variety.

Summary: A lawsuit accusing Russell Simmons of rape has been dismissed.

An accuser who claimed that hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons “treats animals better than people” has dropped her civil lawsuit against him. Page Six reported that both parties signed a stipulation for dismissal for undisclosed terms.

The accuser, filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik, said that in 2016 she went to Simmons’ home, and he “pounced on her” after she rejected his initial advances.

After the #MeToo movement started last October, Simmons was accused by multiple women of sexual assault or misconduct, and in January, Jarosick filed a lawsuit accusing Simmons of rape.

Jarosik’s lawyer, Perry Wander, told Page Six that Simmons treated women poorly.

“Mr. Simmons practices meditation, yoga and is a long time vegan practicing non-violence against animals,” Perry told Page Six earlier this year. “So basically he treats animals better than women.”

Simmons admitted to having a sexual relationship with Jarosik, but he said that their relationship was consensual. In early April, he claimed the filmmaker had mental health issues and that she had texted him sexy messages after their night together.

“This allegation is absolutely untrue,” Simmons told Page Six in January. “I look forward to having my day in court — where, unlike the court of public opinion, I will have the ability to make use of fair processes that ensure that justice will be done and that the full truth will be known.”

In October, Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was brought down by an expose published in the New York Times that documented his decades of sexual misconduct. The fall of such a powerful figure inspired other victims of sexual predators to come forward, and this movement was known as #MeToo and #TimesUp.

Simmons was at first accused by a model of rape when she was a teenager. This accusation inspired Jarosik to come forward as well as other women such as publicist Kelly Cutrone.

Jarosik and Simmons look to have made an agreement to drop the case, but there is another $10 million rape case still pending from a woman who said Simmons raped her after a concert. That lawsuit is still pending.

Simmons resigned from the head of his company because of the sexual misconduct allegations, and it caused him to launch his own campaign #NotMe, which was met with ridicule online.

“I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me,” Simmons said in March. “They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women.”