Lawsuit Accusing Russell Simmons Of Rape Thrown Out Due To Statute Of Limitations

By Justice Namaste  |  November 18, 2020 | 3:55am
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Lawsuit Accusing Russell Simmons Of Rape Thrown Out Due To Statute Of Limitations
Photo: Rob Kim / Stringer (Getty Images)

On Friday, the 2018 lawsuit accusing Russell Simmons of rape in 1988 was thrown out after a judge determined that the complaint was filed after the statute of limitations had expired. The $10 million lawsuit was brought by an anonymous Jane Doe in March 2018, who was seeking damages for forcible rape and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. When filing the complaint, the anonymous woman claimed that before Simmons allegedly raped her in his Sacramento hotel room, he said “I am going to f— you or I am going to f— your son. You decide.”

L.A. Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein found that the original deadline to submit a claim relates to the 1988 alleged assault was 1990. The anonymous woman’s lawyers argued that the deadline should be extended because Simmons lived outside of California for a number of years, but the Judge ruled that even taking that extension into account, the statute of limitations would have expired in 2014.

Simmons, who denied the rape allegations, has now been accused of sexual assault by over 20 women—a number of whom have also accused the music mogul of rape. In August, an HBO documentary called On The Record examined the long list of accusations of sexual assault against Simmons, specifically highlighting the voices of Black women who were allegedly preyed on by the record executive.

 
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