Russell Simmons Shocked To Be Served Lawsuit While In Bali
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People have joked about Russell Simmons fleeing to Bali to escape possible legal action for years, but the accusations against him are no laughing matter. Reportedly, he wasn’t laughing either when he was served a lawsuit, even whilst being in the Indonesian province.
AllHipHop reports that process server Daniel John Ayoub traveled to the Gbas Bali Health And Wellness Resort on March 5, went through two security checkpoints and searched for the Def Jam co-founder for an hour before finding him. Upon discovering Simmons’ whereabouts, he handed him a lawsuit from former music executive Drew Dixon for defamation after his negligence of her sexual assault claims.
“I recognized him as the person named in the service papers as Russell Simmons,” Ayoub said. “[He’s] a well-known celebrity and widely known in Bali, Indonesia as well as in the United States and other places.” Ayoub claims that Simmons was in the middle of a meeting with some of his associates and was shocked to have been found and served this lawsuit while overseas.
Simmons was first accused of being a sexual assault empathizer by Terry Crews in 2017. Crews claimed he had been inappropriately touched by WME agent Adam Venit and shared screenshots of the 66-year-old entrepreneur asking him to give Venit a “pass.”
This opened a can of worms, as The Los Angeles Times reported that Simmons and director Brett Ratner were accused of joining forces to sexually assault women. One of their alleged victims claims she was coerced into going back to an apartment with them, where they made sexual advances while she was 17 years old.
As for Drew Dixon, she claims Simmons raped her in 1995 and went on a “concert and malicious campaign” to discredit her story. He described her as seeking “notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame” by making these accusations against him, and has repeatedly declared he is innocent in the matter. Dixon has also accused record executive L.A. Reid of sexual assault and harassment, and AllHipHop reports that their lawyers are in settlement talks.
In December 2023, after years of being elusive, Simmons finally broke his silence on his many sexual assault allegations. He appeared on In Depth With Graham Bensinger and claimed that he had taken nine lie detector tests. “Nine separate,” he said. “Seven from the Chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each and serious accusation.”
He was aware that people doubted the validity of lie detector tests and countered with his own beliefs. “Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94 percent accurate,” he said. “I did nine of them, it’s pretty clear that I don’t believe it. I even asked if, ‘Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?’ He said, ‘Your subconscious will get you.’ I don’t know how true that is, but that’s what was told to me by the Chairman of the Polygraph Association.”
Check out the full episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger below.
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