Russell Simmons is being sued by a former Def Jam producer over claims that he raped and assaulted her in the 1990s. The plaintiff claims she was raped by Simmons at his Manhattan apartment when she visited him to receive approval for a video. She allegedly suffered panic attacks and developed an eating disorder due to the incident, which she says “derailed” her career. The accuser was able to file the federal lawsuit in New York under the state’s Adul Survivors Act, which recently reopened. Simmons is being sued for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment. He has been named in multiple sexual assault-related lawsuits since 2017 but has maintained his innocence in each instance.
