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Def Jam Co-Founder Russell Simmons Accused of Sexual Assault

In a piece published this morning, The Los Angeles Times reports that Simmons allegedly raped then-17-year-old model Keri Claussen Khalighi in 1991.

Model Keri Claussen Khalighi has accused Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons of sexual assault. The allegation was reported this morning by the Los Angeles Times. Khalighi claims that she was coerced into performing oral sex on Simmons in 1991, while the director Brett Ratner watched on. Khalighi alleges that Simmons then penetrated her without consent.

According to the LA Times, Simmons and Ratner took Khalighi to a restaurant in New York for dinner before inviting her back to Simmons’s apartment “to show her a music video they’d been working on.” Simmons, however, began to make sexual advances towards Khalighi, “yanking off her clothes.” In a statement, Simmons denied the allegation. “Everything that occurred between Keri and me occurred with her full consent and participation,” he said.

The LA Times piece details a number of other allegations of sexual assault by Ratner, who directed Red Dragon and the Rush Hour series. Continue reading on Noisey.