Russell Simmons accused by another nine women as rap mogul launches #NotMe campaign and vows to clear his name
MUSIC mogul Russell Simmons was accused of trying to rape another victim last night - after trying to start a #NotMe viral campaign to clear his name.
Reality TV star Kelly Cutrone is the 12th woman to make allegations of sexual assault and harassment against the multi-millionaire, who founded the Def Jam rap label.
Kelly, who runs a fashion PR firm and appeared in MTV's The Hills, said she decided to come forward after Simmons denied similar claims by other alleged victims.
Yesterday we told how three women accused him of raping them in the 1980s and 90s in an article in the New York Times.
Simmons, 60, said on Instagram he will “begin to properly defend” himself and posted the hashtag #NotMe, an echo of the #MeToo movement that saw half a million women around the world speak up about their experiences.
He said: “My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable.”
Last night Kelly, 52, , which she said was “a call to every man who wants the right to abuse women to continue.”
She said: “The #NotMe thing? I’m going to do a #YeahYou. F*** you.”
Kelly said she was 26 when she met Simmons at a party in 1991 and agreed to walk with him to another party.
She said: “He pushed me into his apartment and then he threw me down on the floor and tried to take my clothes off of me.
“And I started kicking him really, really hard, screaming, telling him to get the f*** off of me.
“And that I would have him killed if he ever f***ing laid a hand on me.”
She added: “I remember running out the door and getting a cab and all I remember was a feeling — which was so crazy — of, ‘Oh my god. Somebody just tried to rape me. What do I do?’.
“And then the energy of going to the police and pressing charges against him was overwhelming to me.”
Last night the New York Police Department opened an investigation into claims Simmons sexually assaulted seven women at his home and office, .
Cops in Los Angeles are looking into three more allegations of abuse in California.
It comes after backing singer Tina Baker, who has performed with Madonna and Bruce Springsteen, alleged Simmons pinned her down and raped her at his flat in the early 90s.
She told : "I didn't have sex with a man for almost nine years – I went into a cocoon."
Def Jam employee Drew Dixon and music journalist Toni Sallie made similar allegations.
A total of 12 women have now accused Simmons of assault or harassment.
Sherri Hines, a former member of an all-female hip-hop group, told The LA Times Simmons raped her in his office around 1983.
Another alleged victim, model Keri Claussen Khalighi, claims that Simmons raped her in his apartment in 1991.
Simmons stepped down from his companies after Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, the daughter of acclaimed director Sidney Lumet, claimed in the Hollywood Reporter Simmons had sexually violated her in 1991.
Simmons said in a statement: “I vehemently deny all these allegations.
“These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.”
He added he was “devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described.
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“I have already apologised for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations.
“I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction.”
Simmons and fellow producer Rick Rubin helped bring hip hop to wider audiences in the 1980s.
They founded Def Jam Recordings, a label that signed major acts such as the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Public Enemy.
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