Former Def Jam employee sues Russell Simmons for alleged rape in the ‘90s

An unidentified woman who used to work at Def Jam Recordings has filed a lawsuit against label co-founder Russell Simmons, claiming that he raped her when she worked at the label in the ‘90s. This comes from Variety, which says this accuser—referred to only as Jane Doe—claims Simmons raped her at his apartment when she visited him to get approval on an early cut of a music video, and though she says she told him to “stop” and “get off” multiple times, he allegedly “would not listen to her.”

This comes after Simmons was hit with several sexual misconduct allegations in the 2020 documentary On The Record, with this accuser saying that she was “struck by how similar” the earlier accusations against Simmons were to “her own horrible experience” (as the lawsuit puts it). The suit says that the accuser’s “career in music was disrupted and derailed” by Simmons, referred to here as “a rich and powerful celebrity whose wealth and influence allowed his abusive behavior to go unchallenged for decades.

The accuser says she quit her job at Def Jam shortly after and later suffered from “dissociation, depression, and anxiety,” causing her to quit three additional jobs in the entertainment industry over two years—though the suit says she is now a “successful writer and producer” at least. The suit also says that the accuser coincidentally bumped into Simmons at a yoga class last year, and when she asked whether it was okay for her to be there, he allegedly responded, “Of course. What, do you think I’m gonna try and fuck you?” She says she was “horrified” that he was “unapologetic towards her personally” and claims that he “did not appreciate that the assault was wrong.”

This follows a string of accusations against high–profile people that came late last year tied to the then-upcoming expiration of New York’s Adult Survivors Act—which temporarily extended the statute of limitations on allegations of sexual assault. This suit against Simmons was reportedly filed as part of that, though it has since expired, as well as New York City’s similar Gender Motivated Violence Act. That one is still in effect and will be through 2025, and it expands the statute of limitations specifically for victims of gender-motivated violence (as opposed to the Adult Survivors Act’s more specific focus on sexual assault).

As for Simmons, he also went through some kind of public feud with his family last summer, with his daughter suggesting that he is “experiencing something like dementia” and “really acts like he hates and does not know his children frequently.” Simmons doesn’t seem to have publicly responded to this suit, but he has previously apologized for ever being “thoughtless and insensitive” while denying that he had ever been violent.