After being hit with several rape and sexual assault allegations since 2017, Russell Simmons has decided to break his silence.
In a new episode of In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Simmons explained being in “compromising situations,” however he stood firm in his denial of any accusations.
Russell Simmons Sexual Assault Allegations
He recalled being in “foursomes” throughout his tenure as a music industry executive.
“Could someone leave and feel hurt? Could someone leave and feel they wish they hadn’t? Could someone reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in a market where people thirst for fame? Even infamous?” Simmons asked Bensinger.
He shared that he has taken nine separate lie-detector tests. One for each accusation made against him.
“When someone said, for instance, ‘I was violent’ — one person said that — and I’ve never been violent. Took that,” he explained. “And one said I apologized. I never apologized about assaulting anyone. But if two people say it, because one said it, and #MeToo, and the second person said it, then I took a test for it.”
“Three hours per test by two polygraph examiners — one that I’ve never done this to anyone and one, I’ve never done to each individual,” he continued to explain.
Simmons shared with Bensinger that he recorded each test but there weren’t any outlets that wanted to cover that information. He said that mainstream media didn’t want to push the narrative that they didn’t believe women.
“But women and celebrities maybe in some cases are a little different,” he continued. “But we don’t wanna not believe women, we have to believe women. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t demonize people without proof either.”
Eighteen women have come out and accused Simmons of sexual harassment or rape since 2017.