Three women accuse Russell Simmons of rape

Three women have come forward alleging that music producer Russell Simmons raped them, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper reported accounts from four different women between the years of 1988 through 2014. Three said that Simmons raped them, while one accused him of sexual assault.

“I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual,” Simmons said in a statement to the Times.

“I have enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power,” he said.

The allegations from the women come as powerful men in media, politics and Hollywood have been accused of varying degrees of sexual misconduct, a wave of allegations set off by the disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein.

One woman who worked for Simmons’s Def Jam Recordings, Drew Dixon, said Simmons raped her in 1995 after repeatedly sexually harassing her at work. 

Simmons admitted through an attorney that he participated in “inappropriate conduct” with Dixon when she worked for him.

Dixon also accused L.A. Reid of sexual harassment during her time working for him at Arista.

“I’m proud of my track record promoting, supporting and uplifting women at every company I’ve ever run. That notwithstanding, if I have ever said anything capable of being misinterpreted, I apologize unreservedly,” Reid told the Times when confronted with Dixon’s allegations.

Another woman, Tina Baker, accused Simmons of raping her at his apartment when he managed her singing career in the 1990s.

“I did nothing, I shut my eyes and waited for it to end,” Baker told the Times.

Through an attorney, Simmons told the Times that he did not have any “recollection of ever having any sexual relations with Ms. Baker.”

Toni Sallie alleged that Simmons raped her in 1988 at his apartment. She met the producer during an assignment in 1987 and the two went out several times and stayed friends after their dating ended, according to the report.

“He pushed me on the bed and jumped on top of me, and physically attacked me,” Sallie told the newspaper of the 1988 incident at Simmons’s apartment. “We were fighting. I said no.”

Simmons, again through his attorney, admitted he and Sallie dated, but refuted allegations of nonconsensual sex.

Christina Moore said she “felt assaulted” when Simmons put his hands on her in a Miami hotel room in 2014. Moore was with a friend at the time and the two left the hotel room. Simmons said he remembered Moore, but denied engaging in any inappropriate behavior.