Russell Simmons' Sexual Assault Controversy Explained: Why Isn't He in Jail?
Here is how the scandal broke out and died down.
Russell Simmons' family drama has recently reverberated all through the Internet. The Def Jam Recordings co-founder has been embroiled in a public battle with his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, and daughter Aoki Lee Simmons, who have accused him of emotional and verbal abuse and of using threats to keep them quiet.
These accusations couldn't help but remind people of another controversy involving Russell Simmons that dates back to 2017: allegations of sexual misconduct and assault from several women, some of whom were underage. In case you somehow missed the 2017 allegations, here's a rundown of what it's been all about.
In November 2017, model Keri Claussen Khalighi accused the music mogul of sexually assaulting her at his apartment in 1991 when she was just 17 years old. While Russel Simmons and his director Brett Ratner, who was directly involved in most of the incidents, denied the accusations, more and more women started coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against Simmons.
Over the years, a total of thirteen women, including actresses, musicians, TV personalities, and writers, said they had been harassed by Simmons, six of whom claimed they had been raped. The media picked up on the horrific stories of inappropriate behaviour by one of the most influential people in the hip-hop industry. As a result, Simmons resigned from his various corporate positions, and public figures like Oprah Winfrey and popular networks like HBO distanced themselves from him.
In 2017, after eleven allegations and some gruesome details of the alleged crimes surfaced, the NYPD launched an investigation into Simmons. However, the entrepreneur insisted he was innocent.
'[I] never had a sexual encounter that was not consensual or lawful. Ever,' he told the Los Angeles Times.
Simmons' consistent denials worked as a successful strategy, as in 2018, he settled a lawsuit from filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik, who sued him for $5 million, alleging that in 2016 he invited her to his home to discuss her career, overpowered and sexually assaulted her. Press coverage of the scandal then began to subside.
In 2020, the documentary On the Record, which focused on the scandal surrounding the rap mogul, was released at the Sundance Film Festival and on HBO Max. It detailed the allegations of former music recording executive Drew Dixon, who accused Simmons of repeatedly sexually harassing her at work in the 1990s, and the accounts of some of the other women who went public.
The film highlighted the serious social and pop culture problem. Though Simmons was never legally exonerated after Jarosik dropped her lawsuit, he continued appearing on TV shows and magazine covers and continued to be seen as an inspiration by many aspiring musicians and entrepreneurs.
Source: Los Angeles Times.