A Manhattan federal judge has tossed out a sexual assault lawsuit against Russell Simmons on grounds that he now lives in Indonesia, but legal problems still abound for the Def Jam co-founder.
In a decision issued Tuesday, Judge John Koeltl ruled that Simmons had shown by “clear and convincing evidence” that he is now a permanent resident of the Indonesian island of Bali, meaning his federal court lacked required form of jurisdiction to hear the case.
The ruling is a setback for the unnamed Jane Doe plaintiff, who sued Simmons last year over accusations that he raped her in the 1990s while she served as an executive at Def Jam. But the case can likely be re-filed in state court, where it would potentially not face the same issues.
In a statement to Billboard on Thursday, her attorneys vowed to do so – claiming Simmons was trying to “dodge accountability for his reprehensible behavior and escape litigation on procedural grounds.”
“From the beginning of this case, Simmons has claimed to be a stateless citizen domiciled in Bali, despite building his life and career in New York and taking advantage of his clear ties to the state when it benefits him,” said Kenya Davis, a lawyer at the firm Boies Schiller Flexner. “Our plaintiff is not deterred by this gamesmanship. We respect the judge’s decision, and we will see Mr. Simmons in New York state court.”
In his own statement, an attorney for Simmons praised the judge’s decision to dismiss the case: “Our justice system is based on rules and procedures,” said David Fish an attorney at the law firm Romano Law. “We are pleased that the court followed the rules of civil procedure and case law related to who can be brought into court.”
Asked about whether the case would continue in state court, Fish said: “I can’t predict what plaintiff’s counsel will do going forward.”
Simmons, who founded Def Jam Recordings in 1984 and later built a formidable hip hop empire, has faced a slew of abuse allegations since 2017 — first in an investigative article by the New York Times, then in a 2020 documentary film that featured interviews with numerous alleged victims.
Last year, Simmons was hit with two lawsuits over such claims. The first came from the Jane Doe at the center of this week’s ruling, who says that she was serving as a successful music video producer when she was “sexually harassed, assaulted, sexually battered, and raped by her boss.”
The other case came from Drew Dixon, a former A&R at Def Jam who accused Simmons of rape in both the Times article and the documentary. In her February 2024 lawsuit, Dixon accused Simmons of defaming her by suggesting during an interview that she was lying about the incident.
That case remains pending. Simmons had moved to dismiss Dixon’s lawsuit at the outset on free speech grounds, but that request was denied by a judge last week, sending the case toward more litigation and an eventual trial.
Simmons also faces additional litigation from three other accusers — Tina Klein-Baker, Toni Sallie and Alexia Norton Jones – who alleged in New York court filings last month that the hip hop mogul had reneged on confidential settlements that separately required him to pay them a total of nearly $8 million.
