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Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Russell Simmons is being accused of rape in a $5 million lawsuit, Billboard reports.
Jennifer Jaroski filed the suit in U.S. District Court in California Wednesday in which she alleges that the embattled media mogul lure her to his house supposedly to discuss a documentary project in 2016, and where, the suit charges, Simmons, “pounced on her while she was still in shock and fear, and proceeded to rape her,” according to court document cited by Billboard.
Simmons denied the charge in a statement to ABC News Wednesday evening.
“This allegation is absolutely untrue. I look forward to having my day in court – where, unlike the court of public opinion, I will have the ability to make use of fair processes that ensure that justice will be done and that the full truth will be known,” the statement read. It also said, “I will not litigate this matter in the media.”
Multiple woman have come forward in various press reports in the past several weeks to accuse the Def Jam co-founder of sexual misconduct, charges Simmons has denied. He denied them again Wednesday in his statement, saying, “These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.”
In a statement to Billboard, Jaroski’s lawyer, Perry C. Wander, took aim not just at Simmons. “It’s time that the hip-hop industry face the music and recognize that the deep rooted history of misogyny and discrimination against women in the music industry has to come to an end. #TimesUp,” he said in the statement.
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