Another Woman Levels Sexual Assault Claims Against Russell Simmons
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - An author is alleging sexual assault accusations against Def Jam Records co-founder Russell Simmons in an online essay posted nearly three decades later.
Alexia Norton Jones said in an article on Variety.com she went on a date with the hip hop mogul in November 1990 that ended with an assault at Simmons' apartment in downtown Manhattan.
Jones, a 31-year-old model and actress at the time of the alleged attack, is the granddaughter of late book publisher W.W. Norton.
The accusations are the latest in a string of reports from more than a dozen women accusing Simmons of sexual assault or rape, according to reports by The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
Simmons denied wrongdoing in the case of Jones and other complaints against him. Amid the allegations, he stepped down from his companies in November.
"I'm deeply saddened by this story from Alexia," Simmons told Variety in a statement posted on the magazine's website. "At no time did she share these feelings about her first sexual encounter with me, which took place roughly 28 years ago. I have taken multiple lie detector tests that affirm I never sexually assaulted anyone. Alexia and I dated, were intimate and attended multiple events together after she alleges the incident occurred in 1990."
Earlier this year, Jennifer Jarosik filed a lawsuit against Simmons, accusing him of raping her. She says she approached Simmons to be interviewed and to help her produce and finance a film.
In December 2017, the NYPD announced that it had opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Simmons – a day after three women told the New York Times that Simmons raped them.