Living

Russell Simmons accused of rape by book publisher's granddaughter

The accusations against Russell Simmons continue to mount. New accuser Alexia Norton Jones told Variety Tuesday that she was raped by the music mogul after a date in November 1990. The New York Times also confirmed the allegations in a phone interview with Jones Tuesday.

“It was such a fast attack,” she told Variety. “He pulled my dress up. I must have said no seven to 10 times.”

Jones, who was a 31-year-old aspiring model and actress at the time, is the granddaughter of late book publisher W. W. Norton and daughter of Clarence B. Jones, a lawyer and confidant for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

She filed a report with the New York Police Department last spring, almost three decades after the incident, according to the articles. She says she wanted to stand with the other alleged victims of Simmons but is not seeking any monetary damages.

Requests for comment from Simmons and the NYPD from USA TODAY were not returned. Simmons denied the allegations in a statement to Variety and the Times.

“I’m deeply saddened by this story from Alexia. At no time did she share these feelings about her first sexual encounter with me, which took place roughly 28 years ago," he said. "I have taken multiple lie detector tests that affirm I never sexually assaulted anyone. Alexia and I dated, were intimate and attended multiple events together after she alleges the incident occurred in 1990. I considered her a friend for all these years and continue to have a warm relationship with members of her family. I believe we last spoke in 2006 when she called to express her disappointment over the fact that I had not attended an event honoring her father.”

Jones told the site that she and Simmons never dated.

Jones described the alleged incident, which occurred after their first and only date and ended with an invitation to see his Manhattan apartment. She says what started out as kissing turned into something nonconsensual.

"I didn’t want to go further. It was such a fast attack. It was literally an attack. Because he was overweight, I remember thinking it was like being attacked by a flabby walrus," she said. "I remember being pushed up against a wall. He pulled my dress up. I must have said no seven to 10 times, and then I acquiesced. It was very fast. I would say it happened in less than 10 minutes."

She says after the alleged attack, she went home and later confided to her therapist.

Over a dozen women have come forward with allegations against Simmons in recent months, with an unidentified woman filing a $10 million lawsuit in March accusing him of rape.

Simmons has vehemently denied all accusations of non-consensual sex.

"These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual," Simmons said in a previous statement.