Russell Simmons is demanding Drew Dixon pay his legal fees in the pair’s ongoing legal battle over claims of sexual assault. Dixon has accused the Def Jam Recordings co-founder of sexual assault, but Simmons has vehemently denied claims of defamation, arguing his comments were of public concern and thus not defamatory.
Dixon, who served as an A&R executive at Def Jam in the ’90s, sued Simmons in February, alleging he deliberately attempted to tarnish her reputation and impede her career in the music industry. The lawsuit centers around comments Simmons made in a December 2023 interview with The New York Times in which he minimized the accusations and implied his accusers might be seeking fame.
“If you slept with as many people as I slept with—thousands—and we’re talking about six people,” Simmons said in the New York Times interview. “But 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, and it can be different from my recollection…could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame, even infamous?”
In a new filing, Simmons’s legal team countered the allegations by asserting that the comments made during a podcast interview were within his right to respond to public accusations and articulated his personal opinion on a topic that has attracted significant public interest.
“Due to the nature of both Plaintiff’s and Simmons’s fame, and Plaintiff’s public discussion about their sexual history, this topic may fairly be considered as relating to a matter of ‘social or other concern of the community,” Simmons’s attorney David Fish explained.
Fish also emphasized that Dixon’s active participation in public discourse surrounding the allegations, including her involvement in a New York Times exposé and the HBO documentary “On The Record,” has further instigated public scrutiny, making Simmons’s comments a warranted response to Dixon’s public assertions.
“Moreover, Plaintiff cast her reputation and these allegations to the forefront of the public’s attention and created further public interest by appearing in The New York Times article, the documentary on HBO, and advocating publicly about her experience with sexual abuse…the allegedly defamatory Statements are as a response to Plaintiff’s inviting public commentary on her interactions with Simmons,” Fish elaborated.
Simmons’s defense raised points about actual malice and questioned the damages Dixon claims to have suffered, arguing for a dismissal of the defamation claim. They petitioned for the award of attorney’s fees and costs to Simmons, citing New York’s anti-SLAPP statute, which aims to protect individuals from lawsuits that might be intended to deter free speech.