After Russell Simmons posted a photo of he and Taraji P. Henson in Bali to his Instagram last week, the internet was ablaze with commentary and criticism toward “The Color Purple” star for spending time with an alleged sexual assaulter.
While Henson has stayed quiet in the aftermath, Simmons took to social media on Tuesday to call out the Black folks who have a lot of smoke for his “friends” that visit him but none for Donald Trump (yes, he made the comparison.) In the Instagram Live video, he also touted his achievements as more reason folks should stop heaping judgement on him and cited the fact that he hasn’t been convicted of any wrongdoing.
“Black people, did you forget that I got 10,000 black men out of jail? And that I changed the factory farming industry forever? And that I registered more of you to vote than probably anybody you know?” he said before going into how he’s also supported the Black Lives Matter movement and various women’s and gay rights organizations.
He continued:
“To let them demonize me in such a way that my friends cannot visit me without you attacking them—but yet you stand next to Donald Trump. Knock it off.
I’ll be in New York next week, this idea that I’m hiding is stupid. I call the paparazzi on myself everytime I’m there. I have an office on Wilshire Blvd. I’m there all the time. I work out of New York some time, but I live here. I live here to heal people.”
As previously reported by The Root, Simmons has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women over the years. Earlier this spring, he was finally served papers in Bali in relation to a defamation lawsuit filed by famed and acclaimed writer, producer and activist Drew Dixon.
A month prior, Dixon filed the suit in New York’s state Supreme Court and alleged Simmons enacted a “concerted and malicious campaign to discredit” her previous allegations of sexual assault and rape at the hands of Simmons that were made public back in 2017. He’s been living and working in Bali ever since.