Russell Simmons Sex Assault Accusers Refute His 'Breakfast Club' Claims
On The Record: Drew Dixon And Sil Lai Abrams Call BS On Russell Simmons Following “Breakfast Club” Interview
Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
The Breakfast Club had Russell Simmons on as a guest Wednesday and it was pretty unsettling. Not just because Russell sat in a yoga pose for an hour straight and had better wifi than Charlamagne but because he did his damnedest to convince his public that black women shouldn’t be believed. He admitted going to Bali to escape the media, then claimed he got stuck there due to coronavirus. He says he’s passed 9 lie detector tests and claims he’s only been accused of sexual assault by six or seven women, while Time’s Up puts the number at 15 or higher. We noticed a number of people online reacting to the interview who felt the trio’s interrogation skills were at an all time low as they discussed Andre Harrell, Bali, yoga, DiBlasio and Civil Rights before even broaching the subject of the sexual assault allegations against him. Once they did reach the topic, Russell controlled the conversation, cutting off Angela Yee multiple times and ranting about how he believed Oprah would “save” him by backing away from the documentary and explaining why. In another breath, he mentions not wanting to talk too much about Oprah. Simmons is vehement that he’s never been violent and adamant that he’s not a racist. He also invokes a long list of black actress and model’s names, saying he never felt compelled to harass women he worked with because he was dating such high caliber women outside of the office. The interview is over an hour long. You can watch it below.
Since the interview aired, Drew Dixon, whose story is probably the most prominent of those mentioned in the new HBO Max documentary “On The Record,” has responded directly to Simmons claims made in the interview.
“Teaching your daughters to have “boundaries” and say “no” won’t protect them from rapists like you @UncleRUSH
I said “NO”… “STOP”… “PLEASE”… “I’M BEGGING YOU”… and CRIED, while you ripped off my clothes, pinned me down and told me to stop fighting. F**k all the way off.”
Drew also called Charlamagne to task after he reminded Russell that his use of party drugs might have affected him from remembering some of the things he’s been accused of.
“To be CLEAR @cthagod @breakfastclubam Your boy @UncleRUSH was stone-cold sober when he raped me. He tricked me. Said he’d ordered me a car. Told me to pick up a demo while I waited. Minutes later he emerged naked, wearing a condom and RAPED ME while I said NO, fought, and cried.
Dixon also challenged Simmons to look her in the face and say whatever he has to say. That might have been in response to Simmons answer as to what he would say to the women accusing him. He claimed he’d tell them he loved them and was sorry they felt hurt — but still maintained he was neither a rapist, monster or violent.
And if you have something to say to me @UncleRUSH look me in the eye and say it to my face.
In her final tweet on the subject Drew Dixon condemns the popular iHeartRadio show for allowing Simmons the same platform as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker to smear her and her “On The Record” peers names.
This is miserable. @breakfastclubam has hosted dignified guests like @KamalaHarris and my college classmate @CoryBooker
and now allows the man who raped me, @SheriSher_Bx, and @Sil_Lai to smear our character and spout lies.I guess Black women don’t matter after all.
Fellow survivor Sil Lai Abrams, who is also featured in “On The Record” was also active on Twitter during and following “The Breakfast Club” interview although she said she was too sickened to listen. She challenged Simmons to have a public conversation about her allegations rather than an interview where he’d be given so much deference.
Let’s have a public conversation about my allegations @unclerush. Instead of you declining to be interviewed for
@OnTheRecordDoc and then using friendly outlets like @breakfastclubam to allow you to speak unchallenged.
Abrams also responded to Simmons’ claims that these are 30+ year-old allegations noting that she had spoken on the subject multiple times years before now.
I wrote about the rape in my first and second books. 2007 and 2016 respectively. The rape occurred in 1994. My first book was published in 2007. It took me 13 years to share my story-albeit withholding your name because I didn’t want my platform connected with his. Do better math
Dixon, Abrams and Sher had a number of people speaking up on their behalf who were outraged about “The Breakfast Club” interview. This is just one example.
Dixon also mentioned Jenny Lumet’s sentiments after Lumet was mentioned during “The Breakfast Club” interview:
From Jenny Lumet to the women in @OnTheRecordDoc: Russell Simmons’ separation of me from you is an act of violence. He’s perverting this moment in history when we are demanding the protections we deserve to commit more violence against Black people. Black women are Black people.
Powerful stuff. While Dixon has not appeared on “The Breakfast Club” she did an interview with “Ebro In The Morning” on Hot 97 last week. Hit the flip to watch it and read some of the refutations Time’s Up published in response to Simmons’ Breakfast Club interview.
Source: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
While Simmons claims only six or seven women have made claims about him, Time’s Up says differently, noting that leading news publications point toward a pattern of predation, with at least 15 women alleging sexual misconduct at his hands.
The following is a timeline of allegations that have been published by leading news publications:
1983: Simmons allegedly rapes Sherri Hines:
In a 2017 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Hines states that Simmons raped her in 1983 at his office in New York. Hines told the Los Angeles Times: “The next thing I knew, he was pinning me down and I was trying to fight him, and he had his way…I left crying.”
1988-1989: Simmons allegedly assaults Lisa Kirk and rapes Toni Sallie:
In a 2017 interview with The Los Angeles Times, Lisa Kirk alleged that Simmons followed her into a nightclub bathroom circa 1988 and attempted to assault her.
Also in 2017, Toni Sallie told The New York Times that Simmons raped her in his Manhattan apartment in 1988. Sallie told the Times: “He pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me, and physically attacked me. We were fighting. I said no.”
Sallie also told The New York Times that Simmons attacked her, grabbed her by the hair, and chased her into a women’s restroom at a music conference in 1989. The Times wrote:
“to this day, Ms. Sallie said, ‘I don’t feel comfortable in a room full of men.’”
1990: Simmons allegedly rapes Alexia Norton Jones:
Jones told Variety that Simmons raped her in his Manhattan apartment in 1990. She stated:
“It was such a fast attack. He pulled my dress up. I must have said no seven to 10 times.”
1991: Simmons allegedly rapes Keri Claussen Khalighi, Jenny Lumet, and Tina Baker:
Keri Claussen Khalighi told The Los Angeles Times that Simmons forcibly penetrated her and forced her to perform oral sex on him in 1991, when she was seventeen years old.
Jenny Lumet wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, alleging Simmons raped her in 1991. She wrote:
“There is so much guilt, and so much shame. There is an excruciating internal reckoning. As a woman of color, I cannot express how wrenching it is to write this about a successful man of color.”
Tina Baker told The New York Times that Simmons raped her in 1991 when he was her manager. She told The Times:
“I didn’t sing for almost a year.”
1994: Simmons allegedly rapes Sil Lai Abrams and sexually harasses Tanya Reid:
Abrams told The Hollywood Reporter that Simmons raped her in 1994. The day following the rape, she attempted suicide.
Reid told The Los Angeles Times that in 1994 she encountered Simmons at a hotel where she worked and he repeatedly called her and verbally harassed her.
She said: “I remember this very, very clearly, the exact words he said on the phone. He wanted me to come upstairs so Brett could hold me down and he could [perform oral sex].”
1995: Simmons allegedly sexually harasses and rapes Drew Dixon:
Drew Dixon told The New York Times that while she was working as an executive assistant at Simmons’ Def Jam Recordings in 1995, Simmons would talk graphically about how she aroused him, ask her to sit on his lap at staff meetings, and regularly expose his erect penis to her. That same year, Dixon alleges that Simmons raped her in his Manhattan apartment.
1996: Simmons allegedly attempts to rape Natashia Williams-Blach:
Williams-Blach told The Los Angeles Times that in 1996, after taking her to a yoga class, Simmons attempted to force her to perform oral sex on him.
2005: Simmons allegedly exposes himself to Erin Beattie:
Beattie, a massage therapist, told The Los Angeles Times that while giving Simmons a massage in 2005, he exposed himself to her and asked her to touch him.
2014: Simmons allegedly gropes Christina Moore:
Moore told The New York Times that Simmons groped her in Miami in 2014. She stated,
“I felt assaulted.”
2016: Simmons allegedly rapes Jennifer Jarosik and sexually harasses Amanda Seales:
Jarosik alleged that in 2016 Simmons raped her in his L.A. home. Jarosik filed suit against him in January 2018. In April 2018, Jarosik and Simmons filed a joint stipulation of dismissal.
Seales told The Los Angeles Times that in 2016 Simmons “used vulgar language to ask if they had ever had sex” at a business meeting.
That’s a completely different picture than the one that Simmons painted.
