Music Mogul Russell Simmons has addressed the sexual assault allegations against him, speaking out in his first major interview since the high-profile premiere of “On the Record,” a documentary that spotlights his many accusers.
In a controversial radio interview with “The Breakfast Club” on iHeartMedia's WWPR 105.1 FM, Simmons ranted about the critically acclaimed film and his reputation, as well as about Oprah Winfrey, who famously dropped out as executive producer of “On the Record” weeks before its Sundance Film Festival debut in January.
“I have not watched it, but I’m aware,” Simmons said Wednesday when asked about the film about 13 minutes into the sprawling conversation. “I know what I’m guilty of. And I’ve been unconscious, as a playboy, and today the title is appropriate of womanizer. So I’m guilty of that.”
“On the Record” features interviews with Drew Dixon, who alleges Simmons raped her when she was a 24-year-old executive at his label, Def Jam Recordings, in 1995. She is one of 20 women who have accused Simmons of sexual misconduct, including activist-writer Sil Lai Abrams, director Jenny Lumet, hip-hop artist Sherri Hines and model Keri Claussen Khalighi.
Simmons has denied ever having non-consensual relations with women, The L-A Times reports.
On Wednesday, Abrams was among several on social media who slammed “The Breakfast Club” for giving Simmons a platform, challenging the radio hosts to invite her, Dixon and Hines for a follow-up discussion.
This is a TOXIC mess. @UncleRUSH is a serial rapist, and many of his victims are Black women. Yet @cthagod gives him a platform in the midst of a noble quest for Black liberation. We'll never get this foot off of our necks as Black people, if we don't love ourselves. https://t.co/8bZUr4JFpd— Drew Dixon (@deardrewdixon) June 10, 2020
"['The Breakfast Club’] has Russell Simmons on their show *as we speak* to kiki it up with a man credibly accused of rape & attempted sexual assault to promote his book,” Abrams tweeted. “This is what we’re up against, folks. The abject silencing & erasure of his survivors and his history of violence.”
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