Since late last month, over a dozen women have come forward and accused media mogul Russell Simmons of rape and sexual misconduct, which occurred over the span of nearly three decades. Former model Keri Claussen Khalighi was the first to come forward in November, where she informed the Los Angeles Times of her encounter with Simmons in 1991, who forced her to have sex and perform oral sex in front of actor Brett Ratner, who denied her help when she said “help me”. Simmons privately apologized to Khalighi and assured that the encounter was consensual, despite her recollection.
Soon after, screenwriter Jenny Lumet penned a letter to the Hollywood Reporter recalling the night in 1991 when Simmons took her to his New York apartment and raped her. The mogul released a statement regarding the incident with Lumet, apologizing and sympathizing with her feelings of fear and intimidation, but denied assaulting her. He also stated his decision to step down from his businesses. Now, 11 other women are accusing Simmons of sexual harassment and rape including Kelly Cutrone, Toni Sallie, Tina Baker, Drew Dixon, and Sherri Hines.
On Thursday, Simmons took to Instagram and posted a photo with the text saying “#NOTME”. In the caption, he defended himself, claiming that all rape accusations are false, and he is innocent.
“Today, I begin to properly defend myself. I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges. Today, I will focus on “The Original Sin” (Keri Claussen), the claim that created this insane pile on of my #MeToo. Stay tuned! We’ll share information today… And tomorrow the case of Jenny Lumet. My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable. #NotMe Again, this is not a movement against or even in conjunction with #Metoo . It’s just a statement about my innocence.”
Simmons previously posted an official statement regarding the “hurtful claims” denying all of the allegations. He continued on in the statement expressing that all of his relations with the women were lawful and consensual. The NYPD has now opened an investigation, looking into the rape allegations against Russell Simmons.
