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.
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.”
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.
