Amidst the close of the New York Adult Survivors Act, a yearlong effort initiated by the state’s Gov. Kathy Hochul to allow victims of sexual abuse to come forward and hold the people who hurt them accountable. Many women emerged naming celebrities like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Bill Cosby and Cuba Gooding Jr. One name that was not mentioned was Russell Simmons.
Simmons has spoken out for the first time since the Nov. 24 deadline for sexual assault victims to file lawsuits and complaints against the alleged perpetrator.
The former Def Jam CEO has been primarily living in another country since around 2018, the same year one of his accusers, former A&R executive Drew Dixon, conducted an interview where she gave graphic details about what happened.
In a recent interview on the “In Depth with Graham Bensinger” podcast, the music mogul talked about not being named in any legal proceedings regarding the allegations and him and never being told that he raped anyone until the onslaught of allegations.
“I can’t speculate as to why I wasn’t sued,” he said about the “six serious accusations” against him but noted how just the allegations have torn down so many of his businesses and charities.
Simmons claims he’s passed nine different reputable lie detector tests to prove his innocence. While he denied that he raped the women, he does admit to being a womanizer in his early younger days, quoting lyrics from one of the rap group Whodini’s songs.
“I’m a hoe … you know I’m a hoe. Three different girls after every show,” the 66-year-old sang, adding, “Culturally, we thought that was the right way and a number of sexual partners and compromising positions I put myself in is beyond anybody’s imagination.”
The New York native also confessed in the interview to having more foursomes than most men had partners. He said his behavior was “silly,” “egotistic,” and “sad,” and came from a place of “insecurity.”
He said even though he didn’t rape anyone, he was not nice to all of the women that he bedded over years ago, admitting to talking crudely to women and treating them poorly.
“I was in so many compromising situations that people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago and it can be different from my recollection,” Simmons said, suggesting that there also could have been collaboration between a few of his accusers.
“If you had more foursomes than most guys had, could someone leave and feel hurt?” he rhetorically asked. “Could someone leave and feel they wish they hadn’t? Could someone reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in a market where people thirst for fame?”
The veteran record executive shared with Bensinger that each time a serious allegation would come up he took a lie detector test. All nine tests were allegedly videotaped and came back saying Simmons was telling the truth.
He also spoke about his life in Bali and whether or not he is hiding from the accusations.
“I spent so much time here people have assumed that I really left and ran even, though I’m back in America all the time,” he said, adding later, “I live in Disneyland. Yoga and vegan Disneyland.”
Another subject that came up during the discussion was the “On the Record” documentary, which follows Dixon and other women of color who allege acts of sexual harassment and rape from Simmons.
Oprah Winfrey later backed out of the film she had once agreed to produce, though Simmons believes she would never support the project because of all of the new information she was provided by witnesses from around the time of the alleged assaults.
“She made a movie about some women. She made it very public that she was making the movie and that she made the movie and then she walked away,” Simmons said in the 15-minute interview.
He continued, “She has not come back in support. Isn’t she a supporter of Black women or not? You should call her. She will not defend those women.”
According to the father of two, when Winfrey spoke to witnesses she “cried on the phone” and determined as an investigative journalist that “those stories should never have been printed much less made a movie.”
Winfrey allegedly declined to speak with producers of the interview about her decision to separate herself from the film. However, they were able to reach several women who accused Simmons of sexual assault.
“Both Sheir Sher and Sil Lai Abrams have consistently and credibly alleged for years that Russell Simmons raped them,” their lawyer Andrew Wilson told the producers. “Their accounts echo the experiences of many other women who have made similar allegations against Simmons. Simmons’ denials and failure to confront the brutal legacy of what he blithely describes as his lifestyle are shameful.”
Dixon worked for Simmons in the late 1990s to the early 2000s. She said, “I do not wish to revisit this, but I will repeat what I have shared previously, namely in the 2017 New York Times article and the documentary, On the Record, long before there was an Adult Survivors Act.”
Drew Dixon, former Def Jam exec, & 18+ other women came forward years ago about how Russell Simmons is a very dangerous man. He uses yoga & spirituality, “good vibes only” as tool to hide & manipulate others. Check the documentary on him “On the Record”. pic.twitter.com/pk2uRBJw72 https://t.co/ZpuxGdnNlN
— Bettinna ⚔️ 🇭🇹 #BwaKale (@bettinna) June 19, 2023
She maintained that Simmons raped her and that he was well aware that she “did not want to have any kind of sexual contact with him.”
“He set a trap as my boss to sexually assault me,” she said, adding, “I have nothing further to say.”
Touching on ASA and the Me-Too movement, Simmons says that these measures are important but should be considered with nuance.
“We don’t want to go backward. We want to believe women. But women and celebrities may be in some cases a little different,” he said. “We have to believe women. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt. But we can’t demonize people without proof either.”
