Explosive allegations have surfaced regarding Def Jam Recordings co-founder Russell Simmons. In a new story from the Los Angeles Times, model Keri Claussen Khalighi claims that the business mogul sexually assaulted her in the presence of Brett Ratner, who also has been accused of similar actions.
From the Times:
Ratner was an up-and-coming music video director and a protege of Simmons, the Def Jam Recordings mogul. They took Khalighi to dinner one night in 1991 at Mr. Chow in New York, and then back to Simmons’ apartment to show her a music video they’d been working on.
Quickly, Simmons began making aggressive sexual advances, yanking off her clothes, Khalighi said.
“I looked over at Brett and said ‘help me’ and I’ll never forget the look on his face,” she recalled. “In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together.”
Khalighi said that Simmons, who was then about twice her age, tried to force her to have intercourse. “I fought it wildly,” she said. He eventually relented and coerced her to perform oral sex, she alleged. “I guess I just acquiesced.”
Ratner, meanwhile, “just sat there and watched,” she said.
Simmons has since published a statement in reactions to the allegations, saying that the time spent with Khalighi was consensual, adding they spent two days together. Ratner, via an attorney, says he has no recollection of the events. The director has been accused of sexual harassment by six women so far.
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Photo: WENN.com
