Russell Simmons denies rape allegations
Jane Doe, who accused him of rape in 1988
Russell Simmons denies rape allegations. American hip-hop record producer Russell Simmons is set to take legal action against a woman who accused him of rape. According to legal documents, Simmons demanded the woman to pay a 35,000 dollar fine for accusing him of such a heinous crime. This comes at a time when #MeToo movement is gaining ground, wherein women are coming out and speaking about the sexual harassment they underwent in the past.
The documents ruled out the women’s claim as “baseless and was filed for an improper purpose”. Prior to this, the woman sought 10 million dollars from him. The victim levelled allegations against Simmons in March, exactly 30 years after she claimed the sexual assault took place following a concert in the state of California.
She claimed he invited her to an afterparty at a hotel.Once at his hotel room, she alleged he closed the door and then threw her on the bed and raped her. The lawsuit is seeking $10 million in damages.
The woman claimed that post the concert she met the artist at a hotel bar after leaving her son with a babysitter. Moreover, her documents reveal that on the pretext of taking her along to his room to retrieve something important, Simmons allegedly raped her.
Simmons, in a recently released statement, vehemently denied the allegations and claimed that he has never indulged in violence when it came to maintaining relations with women. He even confirmed to have cleared all the lie detector tests in regard to this case. Simmons accuses the woman of filing her complaint only for “purposes of publicity, which this case has garnered.”
The music mogul takes exception with her for dragging his lawyer into a recent filing, which claimed Simmons’ attorney also represented Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein. Simmons says his law firm did not represent Cosby and has not defended Weinstein in any case involving sexual misconduct.