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Russell Simmons vows to defend himself as police investigation into rape claims begins
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 15 December 2017
Music industry veteran Russell Simmons has vowed to defend himself against mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. He made his latest statement denying the various accusations as police in New York confirmed they were now investigating the allegations of rape that have been against the Def Jam co-founder.
As previously reported, new articles in both the New York Times and LA Times this week featured a total of eight women accusing Simmons of either sexual harassment or rape. This followed previous allegations made by model Keri Claussen Khalighi and screenwriter Jenny Lumet last month.
Writing on Instagram alongside an image containing the words #NotMe, Simmons said yesterday: “Today I begin to properly defend myself. I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges. Today, I will focus on ‘The Original Sin’ (Keri Claussen), the claim that created this insane pile on of my #MeToo. Stay tuned!”
Noting the #NotMe hashtag, Simmons added: “My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in any way, but instead hold my accusers accountable. Again, this is not a movement against or even in conjunction with #MeToo. It’s just a statement about my innocence”.
Police for the New York Police Department confirmed yesterday that they were now getting in touch with Simmons’ alleged victims, with Deputy Chief Timothy Trainor saying in a statement: “Our detectives are in the process of reviewing that information”.