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*Russell Simmons says he took a lie detector test recently that proves he did NOT sexually assault model Keri Claussen Khalighi, one of 12 women who have accused the rap mogul of rape or sexual assault.
TMZ obtained a photo of Simmons supposedly taking the polygraph in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday. Russell’s camp says it was administered by a “national leader in the field of polygraphing” who “asked a series of questions about the allegations made by Khalighi.”
As previously reported, the model claims Simmons forced her into performing oral sex on him — back in 1991 when she was 17 — while director Brett Ratner sat and watched.
Via TMZ:
According to Simmons’ attorneys, Michael Sterling and E. Carlos Tanner, Simmons passed the polygraph, and plans to undergo more for allegations made by four other women. They say Russell will release all the results once he’s completed the tests.
This marks a shift in Simmons’ response. He initially apologized for being “insensitive” in some of his relationships — but Thursday he launched a #NOTME campaign on Instagram. He insists he’s not trying to diminish the #METOO movement … but simply prove his innocence.
A total of 12 women have now accused Simmons of sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate behavior in business meetings to attempted assault in a women’s restroom in New York City during a night of partying to rape at his apartment.
The accusations span more than 30 years, according to various reports by The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.
In a statement to EURweb, Simmons, 60, “vehemently” denies all the allegations, saying that all his “relations have been consensual” and the “horrific accusations have shocked me to my core.”
“I am blessed to have shared extraordinary relationships, whether through work or love, with many great women; and I have enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power. I am devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described. In recent weeks, some former business, creative and romantic partners have aired grievances as claims I categorically reject. In some of these instances, financial motives and direct contradictory witness testimony has been supplied to the media, which has been completely left out of stories. In the last few days, one woman attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim. The current allegations sent to me by the New York Times and Los Angeles Times range from the patently untrue to the frivolous and hurtful. The presumption of innocent until proven guilty must not be replaced by ‘Guilty by Accusation,’” he continues in the statement.
Below, Simmons’ lawyers Michael Sterling and E. Carlos Tanner speak to TMZ:
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