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Things are not looking good for Russell Simmons. The Def Jam founder has failed in his bid to end sexual assault case.
A woman came forward alleging rape and she sued Simmons for $10 million in March 2018. According to sources, the woman met him “while at a rap concert with her son and that Russell Simmons raped her in his hotel room later that night and also threatened her son.”
Now the lawsuit did not state the time of the incident, however, Simmons’ team is claiming that her legal team told lawyers that it happened in 1988. Which means her lawsuit is outside of the two-year statute of limitations. Because the email cannot be used as evidence in Simmon’s case Judge Marc Gross has denied the producer’s request to get the case dismissed.
Judge Gross said according to public documents:
“[A]dmissions made during the course of settlement negotiations are inadmissible. Here, defendant relies on the email to prove plaintiff’s claims are barred. However, it is clear the information in the email was disclosed in the course of settlement negotiations.”
TheJasmineBrand.com reports that Simmons issued a sworn declaration in May:
“Russell Simmons has, from the beginning, categorically denied these disgusting and purposely sensationalized allegations. He has repeatedly declared that he has never violated any woman, nor would he ever assault another human, let alone threaten a child.
“In hiding the identity of the accuser and even the alleged date of the accusation, an unscrupulous lawyer is attempting deny Mr. Simmons his basic constitutional rights to due process. The allegation claimed a date of 1988, asking for $10 million. After realizing that the extortionate claim would fail because 1988 is outside the statute of limitations, the plaintiff’s lawyer now refuses to provide the date of the alleged incident on a technicality. We fully expect the courts to see through this abuse of the legal system.
“Mr. Simmons has candidly chronicled every aspect of his entire life in countless books, interviews and articles for decades, and has submitted his claim of innocence to contemporaneous witness statements and an unprecedented 10 lie detector tests. Those who know him and his work see right through these desperate shakedowns.”
We’ll keep you updated on this story.