Russell Simmons
Source: Youtube screenshot
Source: Youtube screenshot
A judge denied Simmons' appeal to throw out the Jane Doe rape lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Russell Simmons reportedly has until the end of December to respond to rape allegations from a lawsuit filed against him last March.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg rejected the music mogul's appeal to dismiss the $10 million forcible rape lawsuit.
According to a report in The Blast on Wednesday, the judge ruled that the lawsuit can continue even though the anonymous plaintiff identified as Jane Doe does not state the date of the alleged 1988 rape in her complaint.
READ: Russell Simmons Faces A New $10 Million Lawsuit By Alleged Rape Victim
The unidentified woman says she met Simmons after he invited her backstage at a Def Jam concert, and claims Simmons raped her after threatening to sexually assault her son if she didn’t comply.
Russell Simmons had denied the claims and argued that the case be dismissed because the statute of limitations had passed.
But the judge's order states that the date is irrelevant, noting “the elements of the three claims (forcible rape, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress) do not require a date of the incident.”
A hearing has been set for next month.
Earlier this year, multiple women accused Simmons of rape and sexual misconduct.
The women who spoke out were Drew Dixon, an executive at Def Jam Records in the mid-’90s; Tina Baker, a singer Russell managed in the early ’90s; Toni Sallie, a music journalist who was working for Black Radio Exclusive at the time; Christina Moore; model Keri Claussen Khalighi; as well as author and journalist Sil Lai Abrams, who came forward with accounts of being sexually assaulted by Simmons and A.J. Calloway, “Extra” host and former host of BET’s 106 & Park.
You can read the Los Angeles Superior Court Jane Dow lawsuit here.
The case is ongoing.
Source: NY Daily News
