Simmons quits companies over forced-sex rap
RUSSELL SIMMONS is stepping away from his companies amid allegations he forced screenwriter Jenny Lumet into an unwanted sexual encounter.
The Def Jam co-founder was the subject of a guest column in The Hollywood Reporter by Lumet, who said the music producer allegedly sexually violated her.
Lumet, who penned the films “Rachel Getting Married” and “The Mummy,” said Simmons was an acquaintance for four years before the 1991 night she described in the magazine.
The music mogul offered Lumet a ride home, but refused to go to her address and instead ordered his driver to take her to his apartment, despite her repeatedly saying “no,” Lumet recalled.
“I couldn’t open the doors. I couldn’t open the windows. The car was moving. The driver did not stop . . . He took me to your apartment,” Lumet, daughter of director Sidney Lumet — and granddaughter of Lena Horne — wrote in her account.
“I simply did what I was told,” she recounted. “There was penetration.”
Lumet explained that she hurried, got her clothes and left after Simmons climaxed and only shared the story on Oct. 27 after allegations started coming out about Harvey Weinstein.
Hours after Lumet’s account emerged, Simmons, 60, announced he would step away from his businesses.
“I have been informed with great anguish of Jenny Lumet’s recollection about our night together in 1991,” Simmons said.
“I know Jenny and her family and have seen her several times over the years since the evening she described. While her memory of that evening is very different from mine, it is now clear to me that her feelings of fear and intimidation are real. While I have never been violent, I have been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades and I sincerely and humbly apologize.”
Lumet’s account comes after former model Keri Claussen Khalighi claimed Simmons assaulted her that same year while Brett Ratner was in the room.