*It’s not clear if it’s going to help him in the court of public opinion, but Russell Simmons is speaking out regarding the many sexual assault allegations against him. He claims he’s taken nine lie detector tests since being accused by 18 women.
Simmons, 66, made the comments during a new interview with the podcast “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.” He admitted to being “crude” and in “compromising situations” in his past but still denies he’s guilty of any violent allegations against him.
In the interview, the Def Jam Records co-founder said he’s taken numerous lie detector tests since multiple women (over a dozen) have accused him of sexual assault allegations, including rape.
“I took nine lie detector tests, people don’t know that,” Simmons said. “Nine separate — seven from the Chairman of the Polygraph Association. One for each and serious accusation.”
Simmons told Bensinger that he took one test per “violent” allegation or per claim that he felt could be compounded because several accusers said the same. He explained, “When someone said, for instance, ‘I was violent’ — one person said that — and I’ve never been violent. Took that. And one said I apologized. I never apologized about assaulting anyone. But if two people say it, because one said it, and #metoo, and the second person said it, then I took a test for it.”
He added, “Three hours per test by two polygraph examiners — one that I’ve never done this to anyone and one, I’ve never done to each individual.”
“Some people say that they’re not accurate, but it’s 94% accurate,” Simmons continued. “I did nine of them, it’s pretty clear that I don’t believe it. I even asked if, ‘Well, what if I believe it, but it’s not true?’ He said, ‘Your subconscious will get you.’ I don’t know how true that is, but that’s what was told to me by the Chairman of the Polygraph Association.”
After the Def Jam Recordings co-founder said that there’s footage available of the polygraph tests but that “no one in the mainstream would cover it,” he said it’s because “there’s a narrative” that “we don’t wanna go backward, we wanna believe women.”
“But women and celebrities maybe in some cases are a little different,” the entertainment mogul continued. “But we don’t wanna believe women, we have to believe women. We have to give them the benefit of the doubt, but we can’t demonize people without proof either.”
Simmons also spoke about why he thinks that it’s important to note “very gray” areas and that his recollection of an event can be different from someone else’s.
“I can simply tell you that I was in so many compromising situations, that people can have a recollection from 30 or 40 years ago, and it can be different from my recollection. And it could be one where there is perhaps a collaboration,” he said.
Simmons added: “If you had more foursomes than most guys at once, could someone leave and feel hurt? Could someone leave and feel they wished they hadn’t? Could some reimagine a story out of thousands of people? Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame, even infamous? Could someone who just came out of jail, and want to sue you because they had an experience and they can reimagine it just a little bit different? And could you be vulnerable enough to accept it?”
Since 2017 eighteen women have leveled allegations against Simmons. They range from inappropriate behavior in the workplace to an attempted assault in a women’s restroom after a night of partying to rape at his apartment.
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