A woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Def Jam Recordings co-founder Russell Simmons almost 30 years ago has sued him for defamation after he suggested accusations against him have come from women with a "thirst for fame," the second lawsuit in three days to be leveled against him.
Russell Simmons at the Tribute to Def Comedy Jam at the American Black Film Festival at Lincoln ... [+]
Drew Dixon, a former executive at Def Jam Recordings, on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Simmons claiming he carried out a "concerted and malicious campaign" to discredit her and damage her reputation after she publicly accused him of sexual assault.
The suit points to a December interview with the "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" podcast in which Simmons said he’s had sex with “thousands” of people, but only six have said they were assaulted, and suggested those who've accused him of such misconduct may have a “thirst for fame.”
In 2017, Dixon in a New York Times article accused Simmons of pinning her to a bed and sexually assaulting her while she was working at Def Jam in 1995, one of more than a dozen women who have claimed he's harassed or sexually assaulted them in the past, according to Rolling Stone.
Dixon filed suit in New York and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
The defamation lawsuit comes two days after an unnamed former music video producer and Def Jam executive filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday alleging he raped her.
Simmons has not publicly responded to this week’s claims, but has in the past refuted accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct; a representative for Simmons did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Thursday.
"I've never been violent to anybody," Simmons said in an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger" in December. "Of course I've been insensitive, but certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships, all of which I've had have been consensual."
Simmons, 66, co-founded Def Jam Recordings in 1984 with Rick Rubin. Rubin sold his share of the company in 1996 and, in 1999, Simmons did the same for a reported $100 million. Several women have said Simmons raped them at the height of Def Jam’s success in the 1990s. In November of 2017, screenwriter Jenny Lumet and a then-17-year old model both accused Simmons of sexual assault decades earlier. Following the accusations, Simmons announced he was stepping down from his companies and pledged he had "re-dedicated myself to spiritual learning, healing and working... 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." The next month, four women accused him of violent sexual behavior in an interview with the New York Times, and three accused him of rape. Tuesday's lawsuit is at least the third accusing Simmons of rape in the last several years—in 2018, two women filed rape lawsuits that were later dropped, Variety reported.