Tidal & Revolt Pull Russell Simmons Podcast Episode Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

Tidal & Revolt Pull Russell Simmons Podcast Episode Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

Dating back to 2017, music mogul, Russell Simmons has been accused of more than a dozen sexual assault and misconduct allegations, and though he has addressed these issues and claimed his innocence in the past, music platforms Tidal and Revolt TV are still taking a stance amid the allegations.

Tidal and Revolt TV have reportedly decided to pull an episode of the weekly podcast and video series, “Drink Champs,” that featured Russell Simmons. The podcast which is hosted by N.O.R.E and DJ EFN, recently had an episode with special guests such as Marc Lamont Hill, Talib Kweli, Mysonne, Bun B, and Russell Simmons, to discuss the Black Lives Matter movement (Watch a clip of the episode below).

We talk about #Karens in this new episode of @DrinkChamps featuring @MarcLamontHill @Mysonne @BunBTrillOG & @TalibKweli! Tune in to @TIDAL NOW! ?? @Noreaga @DJEFN #QuarantineChamps pic.twitter.com/C4Inle54GQ

— N.O.R.E (@noreaga) June 17, 2020

After facing backlash over social media (reactions below), it’s reported that as of Tuesday (June 23), the episode no longer appeared on Tidal or Revolt, which produces the series.  In addition, most of the social media promotion for that episode has also been removed.

The show’s host and co-founder, N.O.R.E. (formerly rapper Noreaga), issued an apology on Twitter for the episode in response to Marc Lamont Hill’s statement regarding his participation on the show, citing that he wasn’t “fully aware of what was going on”.

N.O.R.E. wrote,

“I just wanted to put black men together who are powerful for a powerful convo!!!  Moving forward I will be more aware of guests and who and how they are presented!!!”

Marc Lamont Hill claims he would’ve never appeared as a guest on the show if he had known that Russell Simmons was scheduled to be a guest.

Twitter users were very vocal about the decision to have Russell Simmons take part in the Black Lives Matter panel.

One of Russell Simmons accusers, Sil Lai Abrams, took to Twitter to write a series of tweets about her feelings on the matter.  She stated,

“The Breakfast Club airs on Puffy’s Revolt network. Tidal is owned by Jay Z. Both platforms have had Russell Simmons on talking about social justice issues despite the allegations of sexual violence and harassment he has engaged in for decades. All 3 men are Black music moguls.Jay Z and Puff won’t stand up for Russell via public statements but they are still rape apologists. By quietly giving him an unchallenged voice on their media platforms they make a huge statement: Black survivors of sexual violence are an irrelevant casualty of hip hop.”

Sil Lai Abrams also made mention of the fact that Tidal appeared to take the promo tweet down with Russell Simmons.

How do you feel about Tidal and Revolt TV on pulling the episode with Russell Simmons?