Fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons has finally broken her silence on the rape allegations against her ex-husband Russell Simmons, with whom she has two children.
She defended her former partner on Instagram one day after a 15th woman came forward, accusing Simmons of sexually assaulting her in his home in 2016.
Kimora, who was married to the hip hop mogul from 1998 to 2009, said: ‘I add my voice to the chorus of those speaking out against harassment and violence in all its forms.
Happier times in 2005: Kimora Lee Simmons defended Russell on Instagram the day after a 15th woman came forward, accusing Simmons of sexually assaulting her in his home in 2016
Speaking out: She captioned the two-page post, ‘Now I put my baby down’
She said: ‘I have known him to be a caring and supportive father and someone who has worked tirelessly to uplift disenfranchised communities’
Friends: The couple were married from 1998 to 2009 and have two children together, Aoki Lee and Ming Lee. Kimora called him a ‘caring and supportive father’
‘I have known Russell for over 25 years. We were close friends, married, divorced, and have remained friends, co-parents and partners throughout it all.
‘These allegations against him are nothing like the person I have known in all that time.
‘I have known him to be a caring and supportive father and someone who has worked tirelessly to uplift disenfranchised communities.’
The 42-year-old, who is now married to former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, added: ‘This is a pivotal moment in which men are being held accountable for their abuses of power and denigrating behavior towards women in all spheres.
‘As a mother of two daughters, I believe that no one should ever be shamed or portrayed as an unreliable witness to their own experience for speaking up.
‘Nor should anyone be condemned legally without due process and a fair trial.’
Beverly Hills: Kimora was spotted having lunch in LA yesterday with her son, one day after a 15th woman came forward accusing her ex-husband of sexual assault
Pictured in 2003: The hip hop mogul is being sued for more than $5million by Jennifer Jarosik, who claims Simmons raped her at his home in 2016 after hitting her on the head
On Wednesday, January 24, it emerged that the hip hop mogul is being sued for more than $5million by Jennifer Jarosik, making her the 15th woman to allege Simmons was guilty of a sex crime.
Court documents say that Simmons invited Jarosik to his home in 2016, 10 years after they first met and became friends.
Jarosik, 37, went to Simmons’s home in August 2016 for a meeting about a documentary she was making that he had agreed to help produce.
She alleges in the lawsuit that he propositioned her for sex. When she refused, the 60-year-old allegedly pushed her onto his bed.
Jarosik then fought back, prompting Simmons to knock her off the bed, the lawsuit alleges.
Accuser: The hip hop mogul is being sued for more than $5million by a woman, Jennifer Jorasik (above), who claims he sexually assaulted her in his home in 2016
Friends: Court documents say that Simmons invited Jarosik to his home in 2016, 10 years after they first met. She alleges in the lawsuit that he propositioned her for sex and she refused
It is claimed he then hit her in the head and pounced on her.
Jarosik, who was in ‘shock and fear’ at this point, lay helpless as Simmons proceeded to rape her, according to the lawsuit.
The alleged incident left Jarosik ‘sick, sore, lame, disabled and disordered, both internally and externally and suffered from extreme emotional distress’.
Jarosik is seeking $5million in punitive damages as well as unspecified actual damages, TMZ reported.
Simmons said in a statement that the allegations in the suit are ‘absolutely untrue.’
‘I look forward to having my day in court – where, unlike the court of public opinion, I will have the ability to make use of fair processes that ensure that justice will be done and that the full truth will be known,’ Simmons said in a statement.
He did not address the specific claims in Jarosik’s lawsuit, saying: ‘I will not litigate this matter in the media.’
But in the lengthy statement he says that the allegations of women against him range ‘from the patently untrue to the frivolous and hurtful.’
‘These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual,’ Simmons said.
Attack: When she refused, Simmons allegedly pushed her onto his bed. Jarosik then fought back, prompting Simmons to knock her off the bed, the lawsuit alleges
Jarosik and Simmons bonded as friends thanks to their mutual interest in yoga, meditation, and a vegan diet.
Jarosik had told friends about the rape but did not go public or call authorities because she partly blamed herself for not having the strength to fight him off, the suit said.
Jarosik said she was prompted to come forward after hearing other women’s stories about Simmons.
‘The music industry and the hip-hop industry have a history of misogyny and the exploitation of women,’ Jarosik’s attorney Perry Wander told The Associated Press.
‘It’s time that they faced the music.’
Earlier this month, another woman accused Simmons of rape.
The anonymous woman alleged that Simmons raped her in 1991 at his Manhattan apartment after allegedly forcing her onto his couch and trying to remove her dress.
She reported her allegations to the NYPD along with Sherri Hines, who previously shared her story on Megyn Kelly, late last month, according to TMZ.
Simmons, 60, has already been accused of misconduct by several other women.
Earlier this month, he quietly abandoned his #NotMe campaign as his accusers grew in number.
The campaign was an effort by the music mogul to clear his name. He insists all of his interactions have been consensual.
Hines previously told how he allegedly raped her in his office in 1983. She was a singer in the group Mercedes Ladies at the time.
Claims: Jarosik was in ‘shock and fear’ when Simmons allegedly ‘hit her on the head and pounced on her’, afterwhich she lay helpless as he proceeded to rape her
Twelve other women including directors, fashion mavens and models have accused Simmons of raping, harassing or assaulting them.
He vigorously denied their accusations, releasing a statement each time another’s allegation was published.
In December, as more emerged, Simmons vowed to start his own campaign to clear his name.
He called it #NotMe and promised to hold his accusers ‘accountable’ for what he said were lies.
On the heels of the Golden Globes and with the trending topic showing no signs of slowing, sources close to him revealed he had abandoned the campaign because he feels it is a time for ‘women to speak’.
Simmons stepped down from his business empire last month as the controversy boiled over.
In an effort to clear his name, he took a polygraph test in December which he passed.
The questions he answered as part of it were about Keri Claussen Khalighi, a former Victoria’s Secret model who was the first to share accusations against him.
Simmons referred to her allegation – that he raped her in his apartment in an attack witnessed and participated in by Brett Ratner – as ‘the original sin’.
Who are the 15 women accusing Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct
Natashia Williams-Blach
Sherri Hines
Comedian Amanda Seales
Natashia Williams-Blach
An actress who appeared in How To Be a Player, a film produced by Simmons, alleges that in 1997, the mogul tried to force her to perform oral sex.
She was 18 and was visiting him at home at the time. She was able to escape by making excuses, she said.
Sherri Hines
A singer, alleges that during a meeting with Simmons in his New York office in 1983, he raped her.
Hines was an aspiring singer at the time and was known by her stage name Sheri Sher.
‘It happened so fast that the next thing I know, my pants were down and he was having his way,’ she said last month.
Amanda Seales
The Insecure actress claims that Simmons once asked her during a meeting: ‘Have we ever f****d?’
She made the claim on Instagram last month but gave no further information about when he made the comment
Drew Dixon
Tina Baker
Toni Sallie
Two ex-employees at his LA yoga studio
The unidentified women say Simmons say that he often made women feel uncomfortable by creating a sexually charged atmosphere
Drew Dixon
A former executive at Def Jam recordings, she claims she was raped by Simmons in 1995.
She was 24 at the time and had been working for Simmons for a year during which time she claims he regularly exposed his erect penis to her and asked her to sit on his lap during meetings
Tina Baker
Baker, a singer who Simmons managed in the early 90s, claims he sexually assaulted her after inviting her to his apartment to ‘discuss her career’.
They had been at a nightclub earlier but as soon as they got into his apartment, she claimed he began pouring drinks and trying to kiss her.
When she tried to fight him off, she said he pushed her on to the bed and raped her.
Keri Claussen Khalighi
Kelly Cutrone
Jenny Lumet
Jennifer Jarosik
Toni Sallie
Sallie was a young music journalist when she says Simmons raped her in 1988 at his apartment after she was invited to attend a party there for his then-girlfriend
Keri Claussen Khalighi
The former model’s claim was the first to become public in November. She says Simmons raped her in his apartment as Brett Ratner watched and that she asked Ratner to help her but he refused.
Simmons calls her claims ‘the original sin’ because they were the first out of the new wave to emerge. Both he and Ratner deny her version of events
Christina Moore
Moore said Simmons led her and a friend to a hotel room in Miami in 2014 where he allegedly pushed her up against a column and ran his hands over her body
Kelly Cutrone
The fashion PR maven says Simmons tried to rape her after a party in 1991 but that she escaped him
Jenny Lumet
Lumet alleges that she was forced into having sex with Simmons in 1991 after he locked her in his car and took her back to his apartment against her will when the pair, who were acquaintances, ran into each other at a club.
Lumet said she was powerless to stop him even through a driver was present throughout the journey.
She says she saw Simmons for years afterwards and was civil towards him
Lisa Kirk
Kirk claims Simmons pushed her into a bathroom in 1988 and exposed himself to her.
She says she was able to escape and screamed before running away from him
Jennifer Jarosik
In a lawsuit she filed on January 24, 2018, Jarosik alleges that Simmons invited her to his home in 2016 and propositioned her for sex.
When she refused, Simmons allegedly used violence and forced himself on her and raped her.
Jarosik said the incident left her ‘sick, sore, lame, disabled and disordered, both internally and externally and suffered from extreme emotional distress.’
She is seeking in excess of $5million in damages.
Unnamed woman
The woman claims Simmons raped her in 1991 at his apartment when she was 32