Russell Simmons is stepping down from his Def Jam empire as another woman comes forward accusing him of sexual assault.
Jenny Lumet says the entertainment mogul raped her in the 1990s after offering her a ride to her Manhattan apartment. Instead of taking her home, Simmons locked the SUV doors and took her to his spot, despite her repeatedly asked to be taken home.
Lumet gave a play-by-play detail of the incident in the guest column of The Hollywood Reporter. She said the attack began inside of the elevator. “[He] didn’t punch me, drag me or verbally threaten me. You used your size to maneuver me, quickly, into the elevator,” Lumet wrote. She recalls feeling dread because she didn’t know if she could trust the driver. Then they made their way in his apartment where she said he forcefully penetrated her.
I made the trade in my mind. I thought ‘just keep him calm and you’ll get home.’ Maybe another person would have thought differently, or not made the trade.
Russell said he remembers things playing out differently that night, but acknowledged Lumet’s “feelings of fear and intimidation are real.” He apologized saying he’s “been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades.”
Rush was accused of raping model Keri Claussen Khalighi around the same time.
