An incident involving Simmons recently came to light
Russell Simmons has been accused of sexual abuse in an incident involving Brett Ratner, one of several big Hollywood names who was disgraced when whispers grew to shouts in La La Land recently.
Variety reports that Simmons and Ratner were investigated by Beverly Hills police in 2001 after a woman alleged abuse at Ratner’s home. The unnamed 29-year-old woman filed a report in the early morning of November 3, 2001. The woman alleged that she was held against her will and that both Ratner and Simmons touched her without her permission.
Charges weren’t pressed by the district attorney’s office, citing a lack of evidence.
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Denial
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Though Brett Ratner was recently forced to leave his office at Warner Bros. after several women accused him of sexual assault, Ratner’s lawyer questioned the credibility of the unnamed model who alleged that Ratner and Simmons touched her inappropriately.
“It wasn’t rape or anything. It was sexual battery,” attorney Harold Braun told the trade magazine.. “This is not her first rodeo… I don’t think there’s anything here. This is a girl that had such a checkered history.”
Braun also gave a second-hand description of Ratner and Simmons’ reaction to the allegations.
“We know her. She came to our house. Nothing happened,” he said. “She’s making up a story.”
Simmons has responded to the allegations, noting the wave of powerful public figures who have been brought low by women claiming that they’ve committed sexual misconduct. However, he claims that these specific allegations are untrue.
“This is an important and critical time for the empowerment of women and men who have been harassed,” he said in a statement. “I have been a public figure for all of my adult life. And when you are in that arena over decades, you can find yourself in a position where you are vulnerable and susceptible to claims that are untrue.”
In Other News…
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Stories about Russell Simmons’ past have been coming out with some regularity lately, though this latest news is decidedly more negative than the revelation that he very nearly passed on Public Enemy.
According to Yo! MTV Raps‘ DJ Doctor Dre, Simmons threw an early P.E. demo out the window and declared that no one would want to listen to that kind of “garbage.”
Dre described the scene in a recent interview.
“When I first played it, Russell [Simmons] was sleeping on Rick’s bed at NYU and Rick [Rubin] heard it and said, ‘Yo, this is a’ight. This is cool. But me being with the Beasties for so long, they kept telling Rick about it, so I played it for ’em. Russell got up, walked to the tape deck and threw the cassette out the window. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘This is garbage, man. Nobody’s ever going to listen to that.’”
Luckily, Simmons eventually changed his mind and with it the course of hip-hop history.
What do you think? Will further details come to light about Simmons? Let us know how you feel about these unearthed claims in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this article.
