Ever since the first SA lawsuit against him came out in 2017, Russell Simmons has found himself in a lot of legal trouble.
Over the years, more and more cases have been popping up, and he’s now been accused of inappropriate behavior by over 20 women.
Russell was forced to step down from many of his high-power positions, including his role at Def Jam Recordings.
Russell Simmons Failed To Pay $3 Million To Accusers
He later retreated from the public eye and reportedly moved to Bali, Indonesia, which some suspect was an attempt to escape his legal troubles.
But what’s going on with his lawsuits these days?
A recent report by Variety revealed that Russell did not keep to his end of multiple agreements that he’d made.
According to court documents, he failed to pay $3 million to three women that he’d reached settlements with.
Though the documents didn’t specify why they’d reached the settlements originally, one of the women has publicly accused the business mogul of harming her.
They all entered into the confidential settlement agreements in November 2023, and Russell reportedly had until the first of October 2024 to pay the women.
But that date came and went, and they did not get a single dime out of him.
He was meant to be compensating them for ‘alleged personal, physical injuries, and sickness.’
The documents revealed that Russell owed two of the women, Sherri Abernathy and Sil Lai Abrams, $1,265,000 each.
And he was supposed to give the other woman, Wendy Carolina Franco, $515,000.
Russell Simmons’ Accusers Speak Out
Though he’d agreed to pay those amounts, he reportedly never confessed to the allegations against him in the settlements.
The three women filed confessions of judgment in the New York County Supreme Court, which would mean that they can begin the collections process if there’s a default.
Sil first wrote about how Russell harmed her in a book she wrote in 2007 titled No More Drama, but she did not name him.
Then, in 2020, she wrote an article for the Hollywood Reporter and directly accused Russell of hurting her back in 1994.
She claimed that the incident led to her attempting to take her own life at one point, which she nearly didn’t survive.
Sil later appeared in an HBO documentary called On The Record, which was about Black women in the world of hip-hop and the shocking experiences they faced in the industry.
The most recent allegation against Russell came out at the start of 2024.
Vibe reported that a music producer who used to work for Def Jam Recordings in the ‘90s accused the label’s co-founder of having his way with her on his bed in Manhattan.
She anonymously filed a lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and the New York City Gender Motivated Violence Act.
Alleged Victim Told Russell To ‘Get Off’ And ‘Stop’ Several Times
In the lawsuit, she alleged that she rejected his advances and told him to ‘get off’ and ‘stop’ several times.
But she claimed that she was forcefully pinned and could not move under Russel’s weight and he would not listen to her.
The Jane Doe criticized Russell in a new court filing where she asked a judge not to accept his recent claims, according to Rolling Stone.
The millionaire entrepreneur had alleged that he cannot be sued in federal court in New York because he’s retired in Indonesia and therefore is a ‘stateless’ American citizen.
The court filing alleged that Russell was running from the court’s jurisdiction to avoid taking accountability for his actions.
The woman encouraged the court to question how truthful Russel’s claims were that he’d sold all of his properties in the US in 2021 and was completely residing in Bali under a retirement visa.
The Jane Doe revealed that in September 2023, Russell had sat for a limited remote deposition in her case.
According to her, he confessed that he hadn’t retired.
He was working in the US and still had ties to New York.
She also made the claim that her alleged attacker testified that he was also paying the lease on a Manhattan apartment for his daughters and that he’d kept an office space in New York for his company, Russell Simmons TV.
The woman’s latest filing alleged that the record label founder had testified that he was building a business empire and needed a partner for his current projects, but he did not have success in his active efforts in Dubai and Singapore because of the morality clauses required by those countries.
The lawyers who filed the court documents wrote: “Actively building an empire means that the defendant is ineligible for a retirement visa in Indonesia.”
Russell Simmons’ Cryptic Response
Something else that the Jane Doe argued in her filing was that Russell had done an interview in 2024 where he claimed that he still referred to the US as his ‘home.’
When speaking to AllHipHop, he said: “People saying that I somehow can’t come home when I’m there all the time wears on you.”
So, what was he talking about exactly?
Russell was addressing the loud whispers about how he’d left the States in order to avoid the legal mess he’d found himself in.
He told the outlet that there was no truth to that, and he shared that it wore on him after a while to keep hearing that same narrative.
He revealed that he was always in L.A., New York, and Miami, and he’d never had any reason to feel unsafe in the US.
Russell’s Celeb Friends Face Backlash
Complex reported on how Russell wasn’t the only one drawing criticism from the public.
Some of his celebrity friends faced backlash too when it came out that they’d been to visit him in Bali.
In March 2024, the supposedly retired mogul got paid a visit by one of the biggest names in the music industry.
Usher was in Southeast Asia on his honeymoon and decided to surprise Russell, who he’s reportedly known since he was very young.
Russell shared an Instagram post with pictures of their hangout.
He captioned it by saying that when he was at the lowest point in his life, he woke up and found Usher sitting by his bed.
He claimed that he had known the R&B singer since he was a kid, but they really bonded because of their mutual love for self-discovery and their belief in Yogic science as a direct route to realizing God’s consciousness in themselves.
He finished the post by writing: “I will never forget the generosity of spirit I witnessed in this man. God bless you baby bro.”
A lot of online users commented on how it was super strange to see them together.
Some of them pointed out how it was weird that Usher didn’t want to distance himself from Russell.
Especially since he’d already found himself linked to producer Lil Rod’s lawsuit against Diddy.
He made the allegation that a singer, who perfectly fit Usher’s description, had an intimate relationship with Diddy and that the pair of them were involved with a 3rd man.
A few months after Usher’s visit to Bali, Russell welcomed another famous guest – Taraji P. Henson.
He also made an Instagram post about her coming to see him, and wrote that she made everyone happy just with her presence and that he loved her.
Russell Simmons Said ‘… Don’t Attack My Friends For Visiting Me’
His celebrity visitors received a lot of backlash for their trips to Indonesia, so much so that Russell felt the need to tell online haters to back off.
According to Complex, he shared a video on social media saying that he didn’t want his friends attacked.
He said: “Just leave my friends alone. Don’t attack my friends for visiting me.”
Russell went on to talk about the accusations against him.
He insisted that he’d never spoken to the police about the alleged crimes, or even to a judge.
He claimed that presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump all had more credible claims against them than he did.
Then he brought up the topic of how some people believed that he was escaping his troubles in the US by settling down in Bali.
And he said that the idea that he was hiding was ‘stupid.’
