Russell Simmons Sued for $5 Million Over New Rape Allegation

Jennifer Jarosik filed the lawsuit on Wednesday.

Russell Simmons visits Build to discuss 'Romeo Is Bleeding.'
Getty

Image via Mireya Acierto/FilmMagic

Russell Simmons visits Build to discuss 'Romeo Is Bleeding.'

Russell Simmons has been hit with multiple sexual assault allegations over the past few months, and the latest one comes with a huge lawsuit.

Aspiring documentary producer Jennifer Jarosik filed a lawsuit on Wednesday demanding $5 million from the hip-hop mogul, TMZ reports. In the suit, she claims Simmons raped her at his Los Angeles home in 2016. The two first met in New York City a decade prior to the incident and became friends over their "love and passion for meditation, yoga, and a vegan diet." Simmons offered co-produce, finance, and to be interviewed for Jarosik’s documentary.

Jarosik claims that in 2016, Simmons invited her to his house and asked her to have sex. When Jarosik turned him down, he became aggressive and pushed her onto his bed, according to the lawsuit. Jarosik tried to fight back and Simmons knocked her off the bed where, she fell and hit her head. "Defendant pounced on her while she was still in shock and fear, and proceeded to rape her," the lawsuit reads.

Following the incident, Jarosik said she felt "sick, sore, lame, disabled and disordered, both internally and externally and suffered from extreme emotional distress." She is now seeking $5 million in punitive damages and unspecified actual damages. Simmons nor his legal team have commented on the suit.

This allegation follows a handful of other instances where women have come forth to accuse Simmons of sexual assault. Last November, the Los Angeles Times published a claim by model Keri Claussen Khalighi, who stated Simmons forced her to have nonconsensual sex when she was 17. Simmons later responded in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter.

"In our meeting many years later, and subsequent conversations, Keri never accused me of what she has said publicly," he explained. "She insisted I was not violent. She did tell me her boyfriend and many others found out about our long weekend together and she said she was ashamed by that discovery. I am sorry for the embarrassment she recounted to me." Shortly after, Simmons stepped down from his businesses following a new sexual assault allegation by Jenny Lumet. More rape claims (a total of 15 at this point) and a pending NYPD investigation came after.

Latest in Pop Culture