Two women who have accused Russell Simmons of rape have filed criminal complaints with the New York City Police Department against the hip-hop mogul.
The gossip outlet TMZ is reporting, citing law enforcement sources, that two women filed police reports with the NYPD in late December for assaults that allegedly happened in 1983 and 1991.
One of the women is Sherri Hines, who went on record with the Los Angeles Times last year about an alleged rape that happened in Simmons’ New York office. At the time, Hines was a teenager in the all-girl hip-hop group Mercedes Ladies.
Hines also appeared on Megyn Kelly’s daytime talk show to discuss the incident, which she says happened when she was 17 or 18. She says Simmons had asked her to visit his office, she assumed, to talk about a record deal. Instead, she said, she was “pinned down” on his couch and raped.
The second accuser who filed an NYPD report remains anonymous. From TMZ:
The other woman ... claims Simmons raped her at his Manhattan residence after they’d gone out on a date in ’91. She was 32 at the time, and alleges he tried taking off her dress while sitting on a couch, and then pushed her down and forcibly raped her when she rejected his advances.
Unlike most other states, there is no statute of limitations in New York for rape offenses, meaning that assaults that happened decades ago could still be investigated.
All told, 14 women have accused Simmons of sexual misconduct and assault. According to TMZ, seven of those are currently being investigated by the NYPD.
Simmons recently killed his #NotMe social media campaign, which he had crafted in response to the flurry of sexual abuse allegations against him.
“My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable,” Simmons wrote at the time.