Latest news with #DefJam
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Russell Simmons Files $20 Million Defamation Lawsuit Over ‘On the Record' HBO Max Doc
Warner Bros. Discovery has been sued by Russell Simmons, who alleges that the filmmakers behind On the Record defamed him by turning a blind eye to evidence disputing accusations that he sexually assaulted women in his orbit. In a lawsuit filed in New York state court on Tuesday, Simmons brings claims for defamation, invasion of privacy and false advertising, among others. He seeks $20 million and a court order that would force WBD to remove the title from its platforms. More from The Hollywood Reporter #MeToo's Tarana Burke on Diddy Allegations: "The Zeitgeist Has Changed and People Are Ready to Believe the Survivors" Russell Simmons Sued For Defamation By Former Def Jam Recordings Executive Russell Simmons Sued By Former Def Jam Recordings Executive Over Alleged Rape On the Record tells the stories of Simmons' accusers — including former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon, domestic violence awareness activist Sil Lai Abrams and screenwriter Jenny Lumet — as they decide to go public with allegations of sexual assault. It was produced by Oscar-nominated directors Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering via their production banner Jane Doe Films, all of whom are named in the complaint, with Dan Cogan for Impact Partners. A distribution deal with Apple TV+ was severed when Oprah Winfrey publicly announced that she was pulling out as executive producer, citing creative differences with the filmmakers. It was later picked up by HBO Max as its first-ever festival acquisition. In Tuesday's complaint, Simmons alleges that the filmmakers intentionally ignored information, including interviews from over 20 witnesses across media and politics, that challenged their narrative that the music mogul assaulted and harassed various women. The evidence was presented to John Stankey, then-CEO of Warner Media, and Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, both of whom disregarded the materials, the lawsuit says. WBD and the documentary's producers additionally ignored ignored nine polygraph tests, as well as other information that 'would have been discovered with due diligence and adherence to accepted journalistic standards,' writes Imran Ansari, a lawyer from Simmons, in the complaint. Also at issue: Apple withdrawing from distributing the documentary and certain media outlets, including CNN, the New York Post and MSNBC, declining to cover the allegedly defamatory content. The majority of the title follows Dixon, who last year filed a defamation lawsuit against Simmons for allegedly trying to undermine her sexual assault accusations against him. The former Def Jam Recording executive has alleged that she was raped by the music mogul in 1995. The complaint was filed on the heels of another suit against Simmons for sexual assault and battery from an ex-executive at the label he cofounded, who sued as a Jane Doe. At the On the Record's Sundance premiere, the audience gave the title multiple standing ovations. With its festival reviews, On the Record currently sits at a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while The Hollywood Reporter's Beandrea July called the film 'a stunning feat of complexity that's both contained and expansive.' Ansari, Simmons' lawyers, is a partner at Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins. Arthur Aidala, another partner at the New York law firm, is lead counsel for Harvey Weinstein in his New York sexual assault trial. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Russell Simmons Hits HBO With $20M Defamation Suit Over 2020 Documentary Alleging Rape
With Oprah Winfrey very publicly exiting as a producer, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering's documentary On the Record, about the women who accused hip hop impresario Russell Simmons of rape and more, was controversial even before its debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Now, years later, Simmons is claiming again he had proof the allegations cited in OTR were false or at least questionable in their truth. Living in Bali of late, the much-accused Def Jam co-founder is going after HBO, parent company Warner Bros Discovery and the filmmakers for $20 million in a defamation action filed today in NYC – and he's naming names, past and present. More from Deadline Channel 4 Says It Doesn't Use NDAs, But Documents Reveal Company Is Curbing Free Speech Of Aggrieved Ex-Employees Sean "Diddy" Combs' Faces New Accuser "Jane" Wednesday; Trial Dominated Today By $100K Payment For "Only Copy" Of 2016 L.A. Hotel Footage Of Cassie Ventura Beating Jury In Harvey Weinstein Rape Retrial Set To Start Deliberations Wednesday - Update 'The Defendants willfully, intentionally, negligently, and/or recklessly, disregarded and/or suppressed evidence and information, including interviews, and over twenty witnesses, that were supportive and favorable to Plaintiff, and/or refuted and rebutted the accusations falsely made against Plaintiff in the film,' exclaims the complaint placed in the Supreme Court of the state of New York docket late Tuesday by attorneys Imran Ansari and Carla DiMare. The duo not only want a hunk of cash for their much-accused client, but they also want the Drew Dixon (a former Def Jam exec), Sheri Sher, Sil Lai Abrams, Jenny Lumet, and Kelly Cutrone featuring On the Record, which HBO Max picked up in February 2020, essentially scrubbed from 'all platforms, networks and media outlets in the Defendants' control' so to never be seen again. Naming those names, Simmons' complaint adds: 'The evidence and information were made available to Defendants, including then CEO of WarnerMedia John Stankey, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content, Casey Bloys, and the company's board members, by the Plaintiff, and/or others on his behalf, however, the Defendants disregarded and/or suppressed said materials.' 'Defendants further disregarded nine consecutive credible and favorable CIA-grade polygraph results, and/or information favorable to Plaintiff that was provided to them or would have been discovered with due diligence, and adherence to accepted journalistic standards, and that Defendants willfully, and/or recklessly, disregarded and suppressed said information and evidence, and published, and continue to republish defamatory content,' it goes on to state. HBO and WBD's scarce communications boss (and ex-Obama press secretary) Robert Gibbs had no response when reached out to by Deadline over Simmons' new swipe at the docu. While repetitive of what was in their actual filing, the same cannot be said of Simmons lawyers. 'Despite voluminous support for Mr. Simmons in the form of credible information, persuasive evidence, witness statements, and calls for further investigation by notable members of the media, politics, and the civil rights movement, the defendants simply disregarded it, and released, and continue to re-release globally, a film that tremendously disparaged and damaged Mr. Simmons with salacious and defamatory accusations that he vehemently denies,' Ansari and DiMare told Deadline this AM of the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Dick and Ziering. In the overlapping nature of #MeToo lawsuits, it is worth noting that Ansari is a partner and chief of the civil litigation practice of Aidala, Bertuna & Kamins – a firm founded by longtime Harvey Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala, who literally is in court for his ex-producer client's NYC rape retrial as it goes to the jury today. That trial is taking place not far from where Sean 'Diddy' Combs, a clear protégé of Simmons on may levels, is on trial in federal court on charges of sex-trafficking and more. Corporately, On the Record was supposed to screen on AppleTV+ under the streamer's deal with Winfrey, but when the talk show queen pulled out of the film over concerns about 'some inconsistencies in the stories,' that avenue became a dead-end. After a strong reception at the Robert Redford founded Sundance, just as Covid-19 was hitting the world, the film was bought by HBO and aired on what was then called HBO Max on May 27, 2020. While Simmons has denied the allegations against him from a variety of women, it seems he has not been so prompt to pay up sums he agreed to. A trio of women who reached settlements with Simmons said in filings earlier this year that he still owes them around $8 million. To be specific, after reaching deals in 2023 and paying up initially, Simmons still owes Alexia Jones $190,000 with 20% annual interest, journalist Toni Sallie $2,940,000 with 20% annual interest, and $4,950,000 to singer Tina Klein-Baker. Living in Bali, Indonesia since 2018, around the time the allegations against him began to peak, and having founded an upmarket retreat. Simmons is out of the reach of U.S. justice. There is no extradition treaty between the world's fourth most populous nation and America. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
New York Post
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Russell Simmons sues HBO for $20 million over bombshell documentary alleging sexual misconduct
Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons says filmmakers of a documentary detailing sexual misconduct allegations against him 'suppressed evidence' that refuted the accusers claims, according to a new $20 million defamation lawsuit filed against HBO and the film's creators. Simmons says that the 2020 film 'On the Record,' a documentary about women accusing the Def Jam records co-founder of sexual misconduct, 'willfully' ignored evidence 'including interviews, and over 20 witnesses' that were favorable to Simmons. HBO is accused of discarding CIA-level polygraph results. John Roca Advertisement The evidence, which would have 'refuted and rebutted the accusations falsely made against Plaintiff in the film,' was presented to the filmmakers, plus top HBO and parent company Warner Bros. executives, but they ignored the materials, claims the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court. That evidence includes 'nine consecutive credible and favorable CIA-grade polygraph results' that HBO 'disregarded,' according to the lawsuit. It notes that the film's backers were 'requested' to review the alleged exculpatory evidence by unnamed 'luminaries in media and politics, including but not limited to, civil rights leaders and members of Congress, and other high-profile black leaders.' Advertisement Simmons cites how former executive producer of the film, Oprah Winfrey, left the project 'after publicly noting inconsistencies in the accusations,' and claims that news outlets — including The Post — 'declined to publish defamatory content.' But Winfrey told reporters at the time that Simmons had pressured her to abandon the project, and that she still believed the woman at the center of the film, Drew Dixon.
American Military News
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- American Military News
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' ex-assistant tells jury that music mogul kidnapped her to help ‘kill Cudi'
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' former assistant Capricorn Clark, her voice quivering, told a Manhattan jury Tuesday that the armed rap mogul kidnapped her late one night in 2011 to help him 'kill (Kid) Cudi.' Taking the stand as the 17th witness, Clark bolstered testimony from Combs' ex, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, and Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, about a disturbing incident in late 2011 that saw Mescudi's Hollywood Hills house burgled by Combs when he found out he'd been dating Ventura. '(Combs) came to my house with a gun and told me I had to go with him to kill Cudi,' Clark, Combs' assistant from 2004 to 2012, testified in Manhattan federal court. Clark said she was driven to Mescudi's home by a security guard with Combs, against her will, and called Ventura while he was inside, warning her that the Bad Boy Records co-founder was out for blood. The jury heard from Mescudi last week that upon hearing from Ventura, he brought her to the Sunset Marquis hotel to stay safe and then called Combs, who told him he just wanted to talk. When Mescudi got home, Combs was not there, but he discovered his house had been burgled, with Christmas gifts torn open and his dog locked in the bathroom. Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mitzi Steiner, Clark said Tuesday that around a day later, she went to pick up Ventura from the Sunset Marquis and brought her to Combs' sprawling Los Angeles mansion, where the mogul began mercilessly beating Ventura upon their arrival. 'Puff was standing there in a robe and his underwear, and he immediately began kicking Cassie,' Clark testified. 'One-hundred percent full force, in her legs to begin with.' Asked to describe the beating in greater detail, Clark said, 'He kept kicking her. He never used his hands.' Sounding on the verge of tears as she recounted the chilling scene, Clark said she was too scared to contact the cops, as 'the mission of the day was to get (Kid) Cudi not to call the police.' ' He told me if I jumped in, he was gonna f–k me up too.' When Combs did not let up, Clark said she called Combs' security team and eventually Ventura's mother, Regina Ventura, telling her, 'He's beating the s–t out of your daughter. I'm in over my head … I can't call the police, but you can.' Jurors have already heard how weeks after the burglary, Mescudi's Porsche was blown up in his driveway in an apparent Molotov cocktail attack. Clark said she informed Combs that authorities were probing the arson and had contacted her. Earlier in her testimony, the former assistant, who started out working for Def Jam and then Death Row Records, described experiencing an extremely hostile workplace during her employment for Combs, including him aggressively shoving her when she expressed dissatisfaction with her work. After a lapse in working for Combs, which she said involved grueling and untenable hours, Clark returned as a marketing director for his Sean John clothing line in 2006. Clark said she was fired in 2012 over supposed issues related to vacation time and would work for him again in 2016 as Ventura's creative director until 2018. At one juncture, when the mogul's jewelry went missing, she said he subjected her to five days of lie detector tests on the sixth floor of an abandoned skyscraper near Times Square. When she arrived there, an unnamed bodyguard chain-smoking cigarettes threatened her. 'He said if you fail this test, they're going to throw you in the East River.' She would pass the test. After the burglary incident at Mescudi's, Clark said Combs' threats against her only increased, estimating he threatened her around 50 times between December 2011 and the following summer, usually in the presence of his longtime security guard, D-Roc, and Ventura. Combs, 55, could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted in the case. He's pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment, including counts of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and transporting individuals for prostitution. The Manhattan U.S. attorney's office alleges the rap entrepreneur, whose net worth has been estimated at close to a billion dollars, compulsively coerced women into humiliating sexual performances with male escorts for years with assistance from a network of high-ranking employees, akin to a mafia family who resorted to sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice to facilitate his desires. Prosecutors have presented extensive evidence of Combs' violent and unpredictable temper. A heavily pregnant Ventura spent four days on the stand during the first week of testimony, describing in devastating detail being trapped in a cycle of violent abuse, recovery, and humiliation during their 11-year relationship. The now 39-year-old singer said she was frequently beaten bloody and coerced into hundreds of degrading sexual performances with other men that Combs dubbed 'freak-offs,' tapes of which the mogul used against her as blackmail. ___ © 2025 New York Daily News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pusha T Reflects on Severed Relationship With Ye: ‘I Don't Think He's a Man'
Pusha T severed ties with G.O.O.D. Music, where he served as the label's president and distanced himself from Ye (formerly Kanye West) in late 2022. King Push and his brother No Malice graced the cover of GQ on Monday (June 2), and Pusha reflected on his falling out with the embattled rapper, who has faced criticism for his repeated hate speech. More from Billboard A Timeline of the Consequences Ye Has Faced for His 'WLM' Shirts & Antisemitic Hate Speech Joe Jonas Reflects on Infamous 'South Park' Episode: 'I Was the Only Brother That Loved It' Peter Murphy Cancels 2025 Tour Dates Due To Ongoing 'Health Issues' 'The one thing that I can say about [Ye] is that he knows that every issue that he's having and crying about online right now, I've told him distinctly about those things,' Push said. 'He don't talk to me like he talks to others.' Pusha T took things a step further while disrespecting Ye and saying that he doesn't 'think he's a man' following his myriad controversies over the years. 'His intuition is even more genius-level, right? But that's why me and him don't get along, because he sees through my fakeness with him,' he continued. 'He knows I don't think he's a man. He knows it.' The Virginia rapper went on: 'And that's why we can't build with each other no more. That's why me and him don't click, because he knows what I really, really think of him. He's showed me the weakest sides of him, and he knows how I think of weak people.' Billboard has reached out to Ye's rep for comment. Pusha T and No Malice kicked off the Clipse's Let God Sort Em Out rollout on Friday (May 30) with 'Ace Trumpets,' which finds Push name-dropping Yeezy. 'Sold ecstasy and disappeared, I am Whodini/ Look at them, him and him, still waitin' on Yeezy/ I hope you got your squeegees/ At your interviews, I just ki-ki,' he raps. Ye got wind of Pusha's bars and expressed that he misses the friendship they once had. 'I miss me and Pusha's friendship,' West wrote of his ex-G.O.O.D. Music president to X. While Yeezy won't be appearing on Let God Sort Em Out come the July 11 release date, Push confirmed that Kendrick Lamar is slated to be featured on the album track 'Chains & Whips.' However, Lamar's assist was at the center of Clipse's rift with Def Jam, as the Universal Music Group-owned label wanted K. Dot's verse removed from the project. Push stood firm in keeping the Compton rapper on the album, which led to a split with Def Jam for the duo as well as Pusha's solo career. LGSEO will now be distributed by Roc Nation. 'They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,' he said. 'And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, 'We'll just drop the Clipse.' But that can't work because I'm still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go.' Billboard has reached out to Def Jam for comment. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
