Russell Simmons is being sued for at least $10 million by a woman who alleges that Simmons threatened her son, then raped her, according to court papers obtained by TheWrap.
In the suit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the anonymous California woman says she was chaperoning her son, at the time in elementary school, to a concert of rap and hip-hop acts associated with Simmons when the Def Jam Records co-founder approached her and invited the two backstage to meet the acts, after which Simmons invited the woman to an after party at the Clarion hotel.
After dropping off her son with a babysitter, the suit says, the woman went to a nightclub, then to the hotel. The woman said Simmons asked her to accompany him to his hotel room, where he had to get something.
“She was reluctant, but Simmons insisted it was not an invitation to have sexual relations since he was dating a well-known model,” the suit reads.
Once in the room, the suit says, Simmons told the woman “I am going to f— you.” When the woman objected, according to the complaint, he responded, “I am going to f— you or I’m going to f— your son. You decide.”
After which, the suit says, “Simmons threw her on the bed and raped her.”
According to the suit, at least one witness saw the woman leave the hotel room in tears, and the woman told several people about the incident.
Alleging forcible rape, as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, the suit seeks damages “of at least $10 million.”
In a statement provided to TheWrap on Friday, Simmons said, “I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women. I have submitted myself to multiple lie detector tests. I denied forced sex and sexual harassment allegations brought against me in each test; I also answered no to the question, ‘Have you ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse?’ I passed all of the lie detector tests.”
Simmons has been accused of sexual misconduct by numerous women, including Jennifer Jarosik, who filed a $5 million suit against Simmons in January, saying that Simmons raped her in 2016 at his Los Angeles home in August 2016.
Simmons has denied the accusations against him.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.