Russell Simmons Won’t Leave Bali Amid Sexual Assault, Forgery Allegations
With another allegation filed against him this year, Russell Simmons won’t leave Bali amid sexual assault and forgery allegations. Per Hot New Hip Hop, there is a new lawsuit filed against him from a former Def Jam Recordings employee.
Filed anonymously, the woman is suing him for alleged sexual assault and also accuses him of forging her signature. According to her lawsuit, the document is dated back to the late ’90s, and regarded her departure from Def Jam Recordings.
In the legal docs, the woman argues that the forged document covers minor financial matters and her Def Jam exit. Simmons has since denied the accusations, alleging that Lyor Cohen had previously verified the signature’s legitimacy. Cohen was president of Def Jam from 1988 to 1998. Simmons co-founded Def Jam in 1984 with Rick Rubin.
Another ex-Def Jam executive, Drew Dixon, sued Simmons for defamation in February. She accused Simmons of engaging in a “malicious campaign to discredit” her sexual assault allegations. Dixon alleges she was raped by the music mogul in 1995. He said in response at the time, “I’ve never been forceful in any of my relationships,” all of which were “consensual.” The father of two said that these accusations could be made with the intention of someone wanting “notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame.”
Russell Simmons Won’t Leave Bali
Despite the legal battles, it doesn’t seem that Simmons will be returning to the United States any time soon. He apparently plans to stay in Bali instead, where he’s resided since 2018. He stated, “I am not physically present in New York, and I do not have an intention to live in New York in the future.” Adding that he has no properties in the US, he says, “I intend to remain” in Bali.
The Hip-Hop mogul told AllHipHop on Friday (May 24) that he didn’t leave America to avoid legal trouble against the women who have made allegations against him. “People saying that I somehow can’t come home when I’m there all the time wears on you,” Simmons told the publication. He added that it “wears on” him after a while to keep hearing “the same narrative, which is false. I’m always in LA, I’m always in New York and Miami. And I’ve never had any reason to feel unsafe in America.”
