Russell Simmons has reportedly suspended his public relations campaign to prove he is innocent of raping, assaulting, or harassing 13 different women.
Sources close to Simmons say that the accused hip hop mogul is keeping quiet because he feels ‘that this is a time for women to speak,’ according to Page Six.
Last month, Simmons vowed to launch a vigorous media campaign under the #NotMe hashtag that would prove his innocence.
After 13 women came forward to accuse Simmons, he took to Instagram on December 14 to deny the allegations while promising to disprove each of them.
‘Today, I begin to properly defend myself,’ Simmons wrote on his Instagram page.
Russell Simmons has suspended his public relations campaign to prove he is innocent of raping, assaulting, or harassing 13 different women, it was reported on Tuesday
A total of 13 women have come forward in recent weeks to accuse Simmons of sex crimes. On his Instagram page last month, Simmons denied the allegations and vowed to disprove each of them
‘I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges. Today, I will focus on “The Original Sin” (Keri Claussen), the claim that created this insane pile on of my #MeToo. Stay tuned!
‘We’ll share information today… And tomorrow the case of Jenny Lumet. My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable.’
#MeToo is the social media campaign encouraging women to speak out about their past experiences of being victimized by men.
It went viral in the wake of the sexual assault allegations levelled against Harvey Weinstein and other high-profile names in the entertainment world.
Jenny Lumet (above), a screenwriter and the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet, alleged in The Hollywood Reporter that Simmons forced her to have sex with him after he locked her in a car and took her to his Manhattan apartment against her will in 1991
Keri Claussen Khalighi, a former model for Victoria’s Secret, alleged in November that when she was 17 years old, Simmons assaulted her in his New York City apartment as movie producer Brett Ratner looked on.
‘I looked over at Brett and said “help me” and I’ll never forget the look on his face,’ she told the Los Angeles Times of the alleged 1991 encounter.
Keri Claussen Khalighi, a former model for Victoria’s Secret, alleged in November that when she was 17 years old, Simmons assaulted her in his New York City apartment as movie producer Brett Ratner looked on
‘In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together. I fought it wildly.’
Jenny Lumet, a screenwriter and the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet, alleged in a piece she wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that Simmons forced her to have sex with him after he locked her in a car and took her to his Manhattan apartment against her will in 1991.
Simmons denied the allegations by both Lumet and Khalighi.
The day before Simmons posted his defiant Instagram message, he was pictured hooked up to a lie detector and claimed the results prove he did not sexually assault Khalighi.
Russell’s team said the test, believed to have taken place in the LA area, was conducted by a national leader in the field of polygraphing.
After Lumet and Khalighi came forward with their allegations, 11 more women said they, too, were assaulted by Simmons.
Natashia Williams-Blach, an actress who appeared in How to Be a Player, a film produced by Simmons, alleges that in 1996 the rap mogul tried to force her to perform oral sex on him.
The alleged incident took place after Simmons took her to a yoga class in Los Angeles.
Williams-Blach, who was 18 years old at the time, said she got out of the situation by telling Simmons that she needed to return to study hall at UCLA, where she was enrolled as a freshman student.
Natashia Williams-Blach (left) and Amanda Seales (right) have also accused Simmons of sexual misconduct
Fashion PR maven Kelly Cutrone alleged last month that Simmons tried to rape her in 1991
Simmons’ attorney told the LA Times that while Simmons does remember taking a yoga class with Williams-Blach, he ‘vehemently denies the rest of her allegations.’
Another woman, physical therapist Erin Beattie, said that she was hired by Simmons to give her a massage in a Seattle hotel room in 2005.
During their session, Simmons allegedly exposed himself and asked her to touch his penis.
Simmons’ lawyer, Brad Rose, told the LA Times that his client ‘jokingly’ asked Beattie for a ‘happy ending.’
‘Mr. Simmons regrets any offense that Ms. Beattie took to that remark either back then or now,’ Rose said.
Another accuser to come forward with allegations against Simmons is Sherri Hines.
Hines was a singer in the all-female hip-hop group Mercedes Ladies.
Sherri Hines (left), a singer, alleges that during a meeting with Simmons in his New York office in 1983, he raped her. Toni Sallie (right) alleged she was raped in 1988 after he invited her to attend a party for his girlfriend at his apartment
Drew Dixon (pictured) says Simmons sexually harassed her repeatedly when she was an executive at his label, Def Jam Recordings
Tina Baker, a singer who went by the name Tina B, said Simmons raped her in the early 1990s when he was her manager. She is pictured on her single January February in the mid-80s
She was known in the entertainment world by her stage name, Sheri Sher.
Hines alleges that during a meeting with Simmons in his New York office in 1983, he raped her.
Simmons’ lawyer, Rose, said his client ‘vigorously denies’ the rape allegation.
He also noted that Hines praised Simmons in the foreword of her book.
In 1988, Simmons is alleged to have tried to rape Lisa Kirk in a New York nightclub.
Kirk alleges that at one point Simmons followed her to the women’s room and pushed her into a bathroom stall.
Simmons’ attorney, Rose, said Kirk’s allegations were ‘outrageous, unverifiable claims.’
In 2016, comedian Amanda Seales met with Simmons at the Los Angeles offices of his media company, All Def Digital.
Seales, who stars in HBO’s Insecure, posted a video to her Instagram account earlier this month in which she says that Simmons asked her during the meeting: ‘Have we ever f****d?’
Seales said she responded with: ‘No.’
‘Oh right, ’cause I would have remembered that, right?’ Simmons allegedly told her. Simmons denied Seales’ claims.
The LA Times quoted two former employees at Tantris, the LA yoga studio founded by Simmons, who say that the mogul frequently made women feel uncomfortable by creating a sexually charged atmosphere.
Karen Russell, a former general manager at Tantris, told the Times she felt Simmons used his position to take advantage of women.
Russell said a female yoga teacher at Tantris came to her and complained that Simmons had pursued her aggressively even though she made clear to him that she had a boyfriend.
Simmons’ lawyer dismissed Russell’s claims, saying that she was a ‘disgruntled former employee.’
Another former teacher at Tantris told the Times she quit sometime last year because of Simmons’ behavior toward women.
She declined to be named because she had signed a nondisclosure agreement. Simmons’ lawyer said her claims were ‘vague and totally frivolous.’
Drew Dixon told the Times she was working as an executive at Def Jam Recordings in 1995 when she was raped by Simmons in his downtown Manhattan apartment after a prolonged campaign of sexual harassment.
Tina Baker, a singer who Simmons managed in the early 90s, claims the multi-millionaire sexually assaulted her after inviting her back to his place to ‘discuss her career’.
Instead, she claims, he pinned he on the bed and raped her.
Music journalist Toni Sallie shared a very similar story after she went to interview the powerful entertainment mogul in the late 1980s.
She claims he invited her back to his apartment for a party he said he was hosting for his girlfriend.
But when she arrived, it was just the two of them. Sallie says that, despite her repeated protestations, he forced himself on her and raped her.
Fashion PR maven Kelly Cutrone alleged last month that Simmons tried to rape her in 1991, according to Page Six.
Christina Moore told The New York Times that Simmons led her and a friend to a Miami hotel room in 2014 where he pushed her up against a column and ran his hands ‘all over my body, up and down.’
‘I felt assaulted,’ she told the Times.
After Simmons allegedly threatened to tie her up, Moore and her friend fled the room.
Simmons denied any wrongdoing.