Russell Simmons Is “Closed For Maintenance’

Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons Says He’s “Closed For Maintenance’

Russell Simmons says that he is ‘closed for maintenance’. He wrote on social media,

I’m in Bali writing, meditating at holy sites and practicing asanas. Letting everyone speak, while I listen. Focusing and praying to realize one goal, BEING A MORE USEFUL SERVANT OF GOD. I want to fully devote myself to my daughters, the underserved communities I’ve always worked with and the growth of a new conscious community. We need a revolution of consciousness. Now is the time for new beginnings. One awakened being at? time.

As previously reported, the 60-year-old Def Jam founder is facing accusations of rape and sexual misconduct. Last November, model Keri Claussen Khalighi accused Simmons of sexual assault in 1991 when she was seventeen. Simmons and Brett Ratner, who was also accused by Khalighi of watching them without intervening when she asked for his help, both deny that the encounter was non-consensual. In the same month, writer Jenny Lumet claimed that Simmons had assaulted her in 1991. In response, Simmons said he would step down from his positions with his businesses. On the same day, HBO announced that they would be removing Simmons’s name and his likeness from his stand-up comedy specials starting with the December 1 episode.

On December 13, 2017, an investigative report was published in which five women accused Simmons of sexual misconduct; including an alleged rape. On the same day, another outlet published the accounts of four other women who accused Simmons of inappropriate conduct; including three alleged rapes. In response to the allegations, Simmons stated he

never had a sexual encounter that was not consensual or lawful. Ever.

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