Rape: Accuser sues Russell Simmons for $5 million

Rap mogul Russell Simmons has been sued by one of his rape accusers.

Filmmaker Jennifer Jarosik claims she was assaulted by the Def Jam Recordings co-founder in 2016 after he agreed to let her interview him at his home in Los Angeles for a documentary she was working on.

In documents obtained by The Blast she accuses Simmons of pouncing on her and raping her when she refused to have sex with him.

She claims Simmons “historically thrived on the sexual exploitation of young women trying to break into the entertainment and music industry, in which young female artists are falsely promised opportunities and advancement by experienced and well-established men in power in the industry.”

Jarosik says she told some close friends about the experience but adds she “felt somehow it was partially her fault since she was not strong enough to resist”.

She decided to go public with her story after other women began coming forward with similar stories about encounters with Simmons. The director claims she reached out to her alleged rape attacker and was appalled when he “pretended it never happened”.

Jarosik is seeking $5 million (GBP3.5 million) in damages.

Her attorney, Perry Wander, tells The Blast, “Mr. Simmons practices meditation, yoga and is a long time vegan practicing non violence against animals. So basically he treats animals better than women. The hypocrisy has to stop now.”

The rap mogul has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight women. He has has denied all the allegations and even took a lie detector test before Christmas (17) in a bid to prove at least one of the claims against him was bogus. Musicnews.com