Two of the women who have accused Russell Simmons of sexual assault detailed their experiences with the disgraced music man on Megyn Kelly Today.
Sherri Hines said that she was only a teenager when she ran into Russell Simmons at a club one night in 1983, and accepted an offer to stop by his office only to press him on why he did not sign her all-female rap group, Mercedes Ladies.
When they got to the office though, things quickly took a turn.
‘My thought, I was like, I’m going to go, I want to know why you did us wrong, you know, as far as with the record deal,’ said Hines.
‘When I got there, he told me to sit down. And he sat down next to me. And it was weird because it just happened so fast. It was like, next thing you know, I’m being pinned down.’
Victim: Sherri Hines said that she was only a teenager when she was allegedly raped by Simmons
Hines said she was unable to maneuver out and eventually gave in to Simmons.
Her pain regarding the incident was magnified she explained by the fact that Simmons knew how difficult her life had been.
‘He came to my home and met my mom. Was a single mom that had ten kids that she was raising,’ said Hines.
‘For him to do this. I ran back and I got my friend, Simone, and she was like, what happened? I was like, let’s go. But I was crying and I told her. And she’s like, “we have to tell your mom.” I was like, “no. I’m not telling my mother. What did you go up there for? And she was going through things.’
HGines added: ‘It was so — the way I felt at the time, like, I can’t believe this man just violated me like I was nothing.’
Simmons has denied Hines’ claims.
Hines meanwhile also revealed that the NYPD has contacted her to speak about the case.
‘I didn’t speak with them. They wanted to speak to me today. And I was going the Megyn Kelly show,’ said Hines.
The other guest, actress Natashia Williams-Blach, said she had not yet been contacted by police.
She also spoke about why she decided to share her story, explaining that it was the manner in which Simmons decided to dispute his accusers’ claims the motivated her to go public.
‘I follow the story when it emerged. And I wasn’t going to say anything at all. I was going to stay on the sidelines and watch this unraveling,’ she explained, but said that when she read Simmons’ response to Keri Claussen Khalighi’s accusations she found herself needing to speak.
‘He said, “how can I be a rapist when I’m a yogi and a vegan?” I don’t know why that’s relevant, but it should be. I fell out of my seat. You can’t write this. You can’t make this up.’
She continued: ‘We literally just went to yoga. We literally just did the downward dog before you acted like a dog. We had a moment. I just said, I know there’s a propensity for everyone to enshrine themselves, on the religious or the civic stuff. There is a lot of philanthropy coming from his side. There is a lot of good actions, good meaning intentions, but they become dirty by the other things done in the darkness.’
Williams-Blach, who appeared in the Simmons-produced film How to Be a Player, 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 hot yoga class in Los Angeles.
Simmons took Williams-Blach to his home under the guise of watching a movie, but the mood quickly shifted according to the actress, who like most of Simmons’ accusers was a teenager at the time.
She alleges that Simmons tried to kiss her, but she moved away. When she told Simmons she wasn’t interested, he tried again she told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.
‘He pushes the crown of my head swiftly down while he’s got his hand on his zipper. It was just a few seconds,’ Williams-Blach said.
She then told Simmons she needed to return to UCLA, and he agreed to drive her.
Simmons’ attorney told the Times that while Simmons does remember taking a yoga class with Williams-Blach, he ‘vehemently denies the rest of her allegations.
A total of 12 women have come forward in recent weeks to accuse Simmons of sex crimes.
On his Instagram page last Thursday, Simmons denied the allegations and vowed to disprove each of them with lie detector tests.