Russell Simmons opened up about the sexual assault allegations that have derailed his career in a new interview, claiming he’s never been violent with anyone, and that he has taken nine lie detector tests since allegations against him surfaced six years ago.
The Queens, New York native, 66, appearing on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, acknowledged that he’d behaved in a ‘crude’ manner and had past been involved in ‘compromising situations’ sexually, amid allegations of sexual misconduct from at least 15 women.
‘If you had slept with as many people as I had slept with – thousands – and we’re talking about like six people,’ he said, the latter number referring to people he says he ‘spoke poorly’ to in the past.
Simmons, who spends most of his time residing in Bali, Indonesia, where the interview was filmed, said that he’s ‘never been violent to anybody,’ which is not to say he always treated his sexual partners well.
‘Of course I’ve been insensitive,’ he said, ‘but certainly never been forceful in any of my relationships, all of which I’ve had have been consensual.’
The latest: Russell Simmons, 66, opened up about the sexual assault allegations that have derailed his career in a new interview
The Def Jam co-founder claimed he’s never been violent with anyone and that he has taken nine lie detector tests since allegations against him surfaced six years ago
The music mogul told Bensinger that he has taken nine polygraph tests in an effort to clear his name in the wake of the accusations against him, which were part of the MeToo movement that commenced in the fall of 2017.
‘I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that,’ the Def Jam co-founder said. ‘Nine separate – seven from the Chairman of the Polygraph Association – one for each and serious accusation.’
Simmons said that in taking the lie detector tests, he addressed specific verbiage in allegations made against him.
‘When someone said, for instance, “I was violent” – one person said that – and I’ve never been violent. Took that,’ he said. ‘And one said I apologized. I never apologized about assaulting anyone.
‘But if two people say it, because one said it, and MeToo, and the second person said it, then I took a test for it. Three hours per test by two polygraph examiners – one that I’ve never done this to anyone and one, I’ve never done to each individual.’
Simmons said he believed in the veracity of the lie detector tests he took, saying, ‘Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94 percent accurate.
‘I did nine of them, it’s pretty clear that I don’t believe it,’ Simmons said. ‘I even asked if, “Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?” He said, “Your subconscious will get you.”
‘I don’t know how true that is, but that’s what was told to me by the chairman of the Polygraph Association.’
The Queens, New York native acknowledged that he’d behaved in a ‘crude’ manner and had past been involved in ‘compromising situations,’ amid allegations of sexual misconduct from at least 15 women
The music mogul said that he has taken nine polygraph tests in an effort to clear his name in the wake of the accusations against him
Simmons said he believed in the veracity of the lie detector tests he took, saying, ‘Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94 percent accurate’
Simmons said he had the lie detector tests recorded, but ‘no one in the mainstream [media] would cover it’ amid ‘a narrative’ that ‘we don’t wanna go backwards, we wanna believe women.’
Simmons said that while he feels ‘women and celebrities maybe in some cases are a little different,’ he emphasized that ‘we don’t wanna not believe women, we have to believe women.
‘We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t demonize people without proof either.’
He added of his past conduct: ‘I think that the culture and the climate was different, and the way people interacted was different. I think to judge 40 years ago as if it was today, we get in trouble.
‘We have to accept where we were and move on and be somewhere else in the future if we don’t like where we were. And I think we’re doing that now. And I think that’s the good that comes with MeToo.’
Simmons said that there were ‘very gray’ areas in which he might have processed a memory different than another person involved might have.
‘I can simply tell you that I was in so many compromising situations, that people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago,’ he said, ‘and it can be different from my recollection. And it could be one where there is perhaps a collaboration.’
![Simmons said, 'We have to give [women] the benefit of the doubt, but we can't demonize people without proof either'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/08/18/78719039-12840017-Simmons_said_We_have_to_give_women_the_benefit_of_the_doubt_but_-a-4_1702060535692.jpg)
Simmons said, ‘We have to give [women] the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t demonize people without proof either’
Simmons was a number of powerful men who were accused of sexual misconduct amid the MeToo movement that commenced in the fall of 2017
Simmons asked a number of hypothetical questions to help in illustrating his point on perception.
‘If you had more foursomes than most guys at once, could someone leave and feel hurt?’ he said. ‘Could someone leave and feel they wished they hadn’t? Could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people?
He continued: ‘Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame – even infamous?
‘Could someone who just came out of jail, and want to sue you because they had an experience and they can reimagine it just a little bit different? And could you be vulnerable enough to accept it?’
In the interview, Simmons complained about how the allegations have impacted his life negatively, saying he has not ‘spoken to anyone for five years.’
He said, ‘It’s ruined my life. It’s ruined my relationships with everything. All my five charities have gone down.’
Simmons’ family troubles spilled over publicly earlier this year when his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons, 48, and daughter Aoki Lee Simmons, 21, aired their grievances with him in June.
Aoki claimed he had been verbally abusive toward her earlier this year, sharing text messages and screengrabs of her communications with her father.
Simmons added of his past conduct: ‘I think that the culture and the climate was different, and the way people interacted was different. I think to judge 40 years ago as if it was today, we get in trouble’
In the interview, Simmons complained about how the allegations have impacted his life negatively, saying he has not ‘spoken to anyone for five years’
Aoki explained to Teen Vogue in September about her rationale in going public with details of her stormy relationship with her father, saying that he had negatively impacted her mental health with his mercurial conduct.
‘Part of it was already out there,’ Aoki said. ‘There were reasons I thought it was reasonable to publish because it was playing out in, like, a silent bubble.’
Aoki in June posted texts and video of her interactions with her father in depicting their fractured relationship.
She said the Def Jam co-founder had been ‘awful to [her] for years,’ and that she’d had significant anxiety issues as a result.
Aoki said that Russell – who previously tried in vain to salvage his reputation following the sexual misconduct allegations with a publicity campaign – has not been well ‘for years.’
She wrote: ‘He needs help and won’t accept that. He refuses to acknowledge he is not himself.
‘He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma, he has harassed my grandma in the middle of the night in poor health, [sent] a man to my sister’s apartment at 2am to scare her.’
Aoki said that Russell ‘lashes out at ANYONE who does not say “oh Russell everything is fine,”‘ adding, ‘Well it’s not fine.’
Kimora and Aoki were critical of Russell Simmons in June, when they took to social media with complaints about his behavior. Pictured last month in LA
Aoki in June posted texts and video of her interactions with her father in depicting their fractured relationship, including screengrabs from a tense FaceTime interaction
Kimora also took to social media posts with depictions of her ex-husband’s conduct, saying that while she was ‘so sorry to have to do this,’ it was essential to make known the situation publicly
Kimora also took to social media with posts about her ex-husband’s allegedly abusive conduct, saying that while she was ‘so sorry to have to do this,’ it was essential to make the situation publicly known.
‘This man has been threatening my kids’ lives,’ said Kimora, who was wed to Russell from 1998 until 2009. ‘We won’t be bullied or threatened or afraid. No one should live like this. No one’s child. This is abuse. Not ok.’
Aoki told Teen Vogue that a celebrity (who she did not name) reassured her that her actions were appropriate.
She said the celeb told her, ‘Oh, I saw your thing. I did the same thing when I was, like, 20, and it was fine.’
Aoki declined to speak to the magazine about the sexual misconduct accusations that have been made against her father, as the publication reported that she stressed ‘a desire not to step out of place in consideration of all parties involved.’