Russell Simmons Wants Music Producer Drew Dixon’s Defamation Lawsuit Dropped 

Russell Simmons, Drew Dixon

Russell Simmons Wants Music Producer Drew Dixon’s Defamation Lawsuit Dropped

Music exec Russell Simmons is fighting back against a defamation lawsuit he’s facing.

According to reports, the 66-year-old recently asked a court judge to dismiss a complaint filed by his former assistant Drew Dixon, arguing she has no credible evidence to support her claim that he defamed her.

Russell Simmons

As recently reported, Drew Dixon had Russell Simmons served with a defamation suit in Bali last month. She accused him of going on a media campaign about her last year in efforts to discredit her reputation and cast doubt over her rape accusations. In case you’re unfamiliar, Dixon was one of six women who claimed to have been raped by Simmons, with Dixon alleging her assault happened back in the 90s while she was working for him.

Drew Dixon

After going public with her story, Dixon appeared in a TV special with other of Simmons‘ alleged victims, prompting Simmons to defend himself in a special of his own. During a subsequent interview, the entertainer denied all allegations of rape and suggested the word’s definition has “changed” over the years, stating:

“Yeah, [rape is] a serious word, but I think they’ve changed the meaning,” 

After claiming that he’s “never been forceful” with any of his intimate partners, insisting that all of his sexual relationships have been consensual, Simmons suggested that the rape allegations that Dixon and the other women have made against him are plots for fame and wealth. He added:

“If you had more foursomes than most guys at once, could someone leave and feel hurt? Could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame, even infamous,” 

Russell Simmons

In her suit, Dixons’s lawyers wrote that Simmons’ interview was an intentional effort to defame her, writing that he went on a:

“concerted and malicious campaign to discredit Ms. Dixon and to so damage her reputation,”

Drew Dixon

They added:

“this defamation has exacerbated the paralyzation of Ms. Dixon professionally…[Simmons] subjected Ms. Dixon to public ridicule, contempt, and disgrace by, among other things, calling Ms. Dixon a liar in published statements with the malicious intent of discrediting and further damaging Ms. Dixon worldwide.”

Simmons argued in his motion to dismiss the suit, however, that he can’t be found liable for defamation because his remarks were rooted in opinion and not fact. He also added that he hasn’t once mentioned Dixon by name nor any of his other accusers. It has not been reported that a judge has ruled on the case at this time.

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[VIA]