[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Russell Simmons is opening up about the allegations of sexual assault that have plagued him for years!
As Perezcious readers may recall, 18 women came forward back in 2017, amid the #MeToo Movement, accusing the Def Jam Recordings founder of many things, including inappropriate behavior at work to even rape allegations. The accusations were brought up again in the 2020 documentary On the Record. Now, Richards is speaking out. In the new episode of In Depth with Graham Bensinger out on Wednesday, the music exec continued to deny any wrongdoing while revealing he underwent nine lie detector tests in an effort to clear his name.
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First of all, the 66-year-old did admit to being “crude” and often finding himself in “compromising situations” back in the day, but he certainly didn’t think he’d ever crossed the line. Addressing why he thinks it’s important to note the “very gray” areas in life — as in, “being pushy is different from pushing someone. It’s very gray” — he elaborated:
“I can simply tell you that I was in so many compromising situations, that people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago, and it can be different from my recollection. And it could be one where there is perhaps a collaboration.”
Providing a series of hypothetical examples after saying he’s slept with “thousands” of people throughout his life, he went on:
“If you had more foursomes than most guys at once, could someone leave and feel hurt? Could someone leave and feel they wished they hadn’t? Could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame, even infamous. Could someone who just came out of jail, and want to sue you because they had an experience and they can reimagine it just a little bit different? And could you be vulnerable enough to accept it?”
Simmons then insisted he’s “never been violent to anybody,” but owned up to having “been insensitive but certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships, all of which I’ve had have been consensual.” As for the tests, he shared:
“I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that. Nine separate — seven from the Chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each and serious accusation.”
Russell took one test per “violent” allegation or one per claim that he felt could be combined with what several accusers said, he continued:
“When someone said, for instance, ‘I was violent’ — one person said that — and I’ve never been violent. Took that. And one said I apologized. I never apologized about assaulting anyone. But if two people say it, because one said it, and #metoo, and the second person said it, then I took a test for it.”
He added:
“Three hours per test by two polygraph examiners — one that I’ve never done this to anyone and one, I’ve never done to each individual.”
Addressing the accuracy of the exams, he argued:
“Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94% accurate. I did nine of them, it’s pretty clear that I don’t believe it. I even asked if, ‘Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?’ He said, ‘Your subconscious will get you.’ I don’t know how true that is, but that’s what was told to me by the Chairman of the Polygraph Association.”
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While he tried to give footage to reporters, “no one in the mainstream would cover it,” because of the established “narrative” that “we don’t wanna go backwards, we wanna believe women.” As for if he believes women? He dished:
“But women and celebrities maybe in some cases are a little different. But we don’t wanna not believe women, we have to believe women. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t demonize people without proof either.”
Sticking up for himself, Simmons furthered:
“I think that the culture and the climate was different, and the way people interacted was different. I think to judge 40 years ago as if it was today, we get in trouble. We have to accept where we were and move on and be somewhere else in the future if we don’t like where we were. And I think we’re doing that now. And I think that’s the good that comes with Me Too.”
Further praising the movement, he added:
“It’s a great movement. It’s done a lot of great work for women. It sensitized men in ways they were not sensitized, and for that I’m grateful.”
Russell has now been living in Bali, where the interview was filmed, and has not “spoken to anyone for five years,” sharing:
“It’s ruined my life. It’s ruined my relationships with everything. All my five charities have gone down.”
But as we’ve covered, his family relations have also taken a toll because of other allegations of verbal abuse levied against him by his daughter Aoki Lee Simmons, 21, and ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons. So, it’s been complicated for a number of reasons.
You can hear his full interview (below).
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If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Graham Bensinger/YouTube]