Former Def Jam Recordings executive Drew Dixon has alleged for years that she was raped by Russell Simmons in 1995. Now, Dixon is suing him. On Thursday, she filed a lawsuit in New York’s state Supreme Court that says Simmons enacted a “concerted and malicious campaign to discredit her.”
Dixon believes that Simmons went out of his way to erode the validity of her claims of sexual assault. In an interview in December on “In Depth With Graham Besinger,” Simmons asked during the podcast: “Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame?”
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He also claimed all that of his relationships were “consensual” and that he’s “never been forceful” in them. Earlier this month, a different woman sued Simmons for sexual harassment and rape. The plaintiff, who goes by Jane Doe, says the violent incident happened in the 1990s.
Like Dixon, Doe worked as a Def Jam Recordings executive but resigned shortly after. In 1995, Dixon claims Simmons invited her to his apartment so she could “listen to a new demo.” As the suit says, he then allegedly pinned her down and raped her.
Dixon’s allegations were published by The New York Times in 2017. In 2020, Dixon appeared alongside other women in the documentary, “On the Record,” discussing various sexual harassment and assault allegations against Simmons. Simmons also said on the podcast: “If you slept with as many people as I slept with. Thousands. And we’re talking about six people,” regarding the accusers.
“He has continued in his campaign to discredit Ms. Dixon, referring to the ‘main accuser’ from ‘On the Record’ and calling her a liar for making the account of the assault public—defamation that started in December 2019 has continued until today,” Dixon’s lawyer Kenya Davis wrote in the complaint.
The complaint is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages—and it includes punitive damages for malicious conduct.
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