According to the New York Daily News a judge has rejected Russell Simmons’ attempt to shut down a $10 million forcible rape lawsuit filed against him last March.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled this week that the lawsuit can move ahead even though the Jane Doe plaintiff does not state the date of the alleged rape in her complaint.
Simmons asked the court to toss the suit based on its alleged “uncertainty,” claiming he can’t “adequately state his affirmative defenses” without a solid timeline.
“Defendant’s demurrer to each cause of action of the First Amended Complaint based on uncertainty is overruled,” the judge’s order dated Wednesday said.
The judge said Simmons must file his answer to the complaint within 20 days.
The Jane Doe plaintiff went public last spring with claims she and her minor son met Simmons at a concert in Los Angeles involving unidentified acts associated with his Def Jam music label.
She claims Simmons invited them backstage, and she later met the music mogul for drinks. She said while they were bar-hopping, she accompanied Simmons to his hotel room because he claimed he had to “get something.”
The unidentified woman claims Simmons threw her on the bed and raped her after threatening to sexually assault her son if she didn’t comply.
Simmons said he was stunned by the lawsuit.
“I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women,” Simmons said in a statement.
In court filings, his lawyers said the case was destined to “fail” and accused the woman of a shakedown.
“Plaintiff’s use of two of the most vile allegations possible – accusing well known defendant Russell Simmons of threatening to molest her son before raping her – is nothing more than an attempt by Jane Doe to extort large sums of money from Mr. Simmons and for her lawyer to try to make a name for himself,” Simmon’s lawyer Patricia Glaser wrote.
Jane Doe’s lawyer, A. Douglas Mastroianni, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Simmons, 61, has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct in the last year from a dozen or more women, including model Keri Claussen Khalighi.
Simmons has denied wrongdoing in each case, claiming he has proved his innocence with a lie detector test that asked if he “ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse.”
EXCLUSIVE: Russell Simmons' attempt to get a lawsuit accusing him of rape dismissed was denied by a judge. https://t.co/vScL2syeYb
— The Blast (@TheBlastNews) December 6, 2018
