Russell Simmons Accused Of Rape By 4 More Women: Reports

NEW YORK, NY — In two reports published Wednesday, nine more women accused former music mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct — four of whom accused him of rape. The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times published stories on Wednesday in which a music producer, two artists and a music journalist who knew Simmons in the 1980s and 90s accused him of rape.

A day after the reports were published, the Los Angeles Times reported the NYPD's special victim's unit opened an investigation into Simmons. The newspaper cited a person at the NYPD who was not authorized to comment publicly in the report.

Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Recordings and the clothing line Phat Farm, stepped down from his companies in November after two other women accused him of sexual assault.

In a statement to The New York Times, Simmons denied the accusations and said all of his relationships were consensual.

“I vehemently deny all these allegations," he told the newspaper. "These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual."

Producer Drew Dixon, singer Tina Baker and journalist Tonie Sallie all told the Times that Simmons had raped them.

Sallie told the Times that when she was working as a journalist for Black Radio Exclusive in 1988, Simmons invited her to his apartment ostensibly for a party, but when she arrived he was the only one there.

She said he led her to his bedroom, then: “He pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me, and physically attacked me,” she said. “We were fighting. I said no.”

Dixon and Baker recalled similar stories to the Times of being pinned to a bed by Simmons and raped.

Former singer Sherri Hines also told The Los Angeles Times that Simmons raped her in his New York City office in 1983 after she ran into him at a nightclub.

All of the women told their stories to friends or family soon after they took place, according to the reports.

In addition, five other women told the papers that Simmons had sexually harassed them, in one case by exposing his genitals.

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