A former Def Jam producer has sued Russell Simmons, alleging that he r-ped her in the 1990s.
In the court documents, Jane Doe says she stopped by Simmons’ Manhattan apartment to get his approval for a rough cut of a video. She accused Simmons of using a “wrestling move” to pin her down on his bed, and then she says the assault took place.
“Ms. Doe rejected his advance and told him to ‘get off’ and ‘stop’ several times,” the lawsuit states. “She told him she was ‘serious’ and she ‘meant it.’ But Ms. Doe was forcefully pinned, could not move under his weight and Mr. Simmons would not listen to her.”
The woman decided to come forward after watching the 2020 documentary “On the Record,” about Simmons’ alleged assault of several other women.
“When Ms. Doe learned about the accounts of the other survivors, she was struck by how similar they were to her own horrible experience at the hands of Mr. Simmons,” the complaint added.
She claims she fell into depression after the assault.
The lawsuit was filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act.
