The previous Def Jam government who claims Russell Simmons pinned her down and raped her inside his Manhattan residence within the mid-Nineties has revived her lawsuit in opposition to the music mogul after it was derailed by a federal choose final month.
The Jane Doe plaintiff refiled her grievance in New York state courtroom Thursday. A California resident, she initially introduced her motion in federal courtroom, the place circumstances typically transfer at a sooner tempo. However Simmons objected, claiming he’s now a “stateless” American citizen residing on a everlasting Indonesian retirement visa on the Bali resort he co-owns. In a Feb. 11 ruling, U.S. District Decide John Koeltl sided with Simmons and dismissed Doe’s lawsuit on the premise it didn’t meet the requirement of getting events in numerous U.S. states.
Whereas Simmons’ lawyer praised Decide Koeltl’s determination as a victory, Jane Doe and her lawyer Kenya Davis say it was solely a procedural setback. They count on no situation pursuing her claims in state courtroom based mostly on the precept that states have the authority to prosecute alleged crimes that occurred inside their geographic boundaries.
“I filed this case to pressure Russell to just accept he was flawed, that he induced ache,” Jane Doe tells Rolling Stone. “Pressured intercourse is in opposition to the regulation. Cease saying the foundations are totally different now; it was flawed then too. I assumed the justice system would maintain him accountable, and right here we’re speaking about private jurisdiction and domicile. The authorized gamesmanship he’s taking part in to keep away from accountability simply makes me wish to push tougher.”
When Jane Doe first filed her lawsuit final 12 months, she joined greater than 20 girls who already had stepped ahead to accuse Simmons of sexual assault or harassment. A number of reached confidential settlements with Simmons however are actually suing him with claims he reneged on the agreements.
“Russell Simmons has a constant sample of doing something and all the things to dodge accountability, like failing to make agreed settlement funds to girls and fleeing to Bali to attempt to sidestep authorized motion in the USA,” Davis tells Rolling Stone. “In the meantime, he avails himself of the U.S. courts when it serves him and his companies. With as we speak’s submitting, we’re telling Mr. Simmons in no unsure phrases: ‘You’ll be able to not run from justice. The time to reply to your conduct is now.’” (When reached for remark, Simmons’ lawyer, David Fish, tells Rolling Stone, “Just like the dismissed federal motion, there might be quite a few grounds to dismiss this case as effectively.”)
Along with her re-filed lawsuit, Jane Doe alleges she was working for Simmons as the pinnacle of Def Jam’s movie and video manufacturing division within the mid Nineties when she visited his residence one evening to ship a tough reduce of a challenge. She claims Simmons “carried out a wrestling transfer” and “forcefully pinned” her down whereas ignoring her protests. She alleges Simmons raped her after which subsequently climbed into a shower and tried to interact her in a dialogue about work. She says the incident left her in a state of “debilitating anxiousness” and extreme despair that has had an enduring impression on her life and profession.
Simmons, 67, has denied any wrongdoing. He claims he handed “9 lie detector checks” associated to the slew of allegations. He’s additionally dismissed hypothesis that he fled the U.S. to keep away from authorized actions. “Individuals saying that I someway can’t come residence, after I’m there on a regular basis, wears on you,” Simmons mentioned in an interview with AllHipHop.com. “It wears on me after some time to maintain listening to the identical narrative, which is fake. I’m all the time in LA, I’m all the time in New York and Miami.”
Past Jane Doe’s revived grievance, Simmons is also going through an ongoing lawsuit from Drew Dixon, a former A&R at Def Jam who sued Simmons for defamation in February 2024. In her lawsuit, Dixon mentioned Simmons unlawfully branded her a liar when he steered throughout an interview that she concocted her declare that he sexually assaulted her in 1995.
Simmons additionally faces extra litigation from at the least six different accusers who declare the Def Jam co-founder violated the phrases of their confidential settlements, failing to pay them a mixed whole of greater than $11 million. The ladies with claims filed in New York state courtroom since October are Toni Sallie, Tina Klein-Baker, Alexia Jones, Sherri Abernathy, Sil Lai Abrams and Wendy Franco.
In her filings, Sallie mentioned Simmons agreed to pay her $3 million however has solely paid $30,000 to this point. Sallie and Klein-Baker have been featured in a 2017 New York Instances investigation titled “Music Mogul Russell Simmons Is Accused of Rape by 3 Ladies” that additionally featured Dixon. Within the piece, Salli mentioned she met Simmons in 1987 when she was a music journalist. She claimed Simmons raped her after luring her to his residence with a lie that he was internet hosting a celebration.
Baker, a singer who carried out backup gigs for Madonna and Bruce Springsteen, mentioned Simmons raped her within the early Nineties whereas serving as her supervisor. Baker alleges Simmons agreed to pay her $5 million and has solely paid $50,000 to this point.
