Russell Simmons Request To Dismiss $10M Lawsuit From Rape Accuser Granted

Russell Simmons' legal battle against a woman accusing him of rape for an incident that allegedly happened almost three decades ago is over after the court decided to throw out the lawsuit.

Simmons won the $10 million lawsuit from an alleged victim who decided to remain anonymous. She claimed that the 63-year-old music mogul raped her in a hotel decades ago and even threatened to do the same to her son if she won't allow it.

However, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Epstein granted Simmons' motion to dismiss the lawsuit after the accuser failed to respond to the judge's order from October. Epstein sided with Simmons because the lawsuit was already out of the statute of limitations since the alleged incident happened in 1988 and the woman only filed the rape case in March 2018. The filing was 28 years late.

"Plaintiff has incontrovertibly admitted that the alleged incident occurred in 1988," the judge's said on his ruling Friday.

"In calculating the limitations period…she would have had to file her action in 1990," the judge continued.

"Having received no response from Plaintiff during the two weeks following the entry of that minute order … judgment is hereby entered in favor of defendant, Russell Simmons.”

The alleged victim claimed that she and her elementary school-aged son met Simmons at a Def Jam concert in Sacramento. He allegedly invited them backstage and later dropped her son off with a babysitter while she went with Simmons to a hotel.

They allegedly went to a bar first before heading to his hotel room. She joined him because he assured her he was dating a model at the time and wasn't interested in anything sexual with her. However, when they were inside his room, he allegedly said, "I am going to f–k you or I’m going to f–k your son. You decide." He allegedly threw her onto the bed and raped her.

Simmons was relieved and happy with the judge's decision.

"We are grateful for the ruling made in this case, although it was dismissed on a technicality my client has always maintained and upon review it is clear he has never met this woman; nor has she produced anyone with whom she has told the story to in over 33 years," Thomasina Perkins-Washington, Simmons' rep, said in a statement.

"Mr. Simmons continues to be in full support of women and what they bring to the world. There have been generations and generations of trauma and injustice…it is time for constructive dialogue and healing to begin."

Meanwhile, several other women, including Def Jam Recording executive Drew Dixon, also accused Simmons of sexual assault. Dixon was the first woman to accuse Simmons of sexual harassment in 2017. She was only 24 when the alleged incident happened and the "prolonged aggressive" sexual assault by Simmons left her broken.