By J. Zamgba Browne
Chief Correspondent
Media mogul Russell Simmons has been slapped with a $5 million lawsuit by a woman who accused him of raping her in his California home – an incident that her attorney says occurred after a separate sexual assault in New York City years earlier.
Beverly Hills celebrity attorney Perry Wander reportedly filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jennifer Jarosik recently.
Recounting the most recent and serious rape allegation, Jarosik, a 37-year-old aspiring filmmaker, claims that the 60-year-old Def Jam co-founder physically forced himself on her at his Los Angeles home in 2016 after she refused to have sex.
The pair, according to the lawsuit, agreed to meet at Simmons’ home to discuss a film Jarosik was working on. It was one that Jarosik claims Simmons had allegedly agreed to co-produce and finance.
During that 2016 visit, about 10 years after they first met, her lawsuit claims that Simmons “got aggressive” after she rejected his advances and pushed her onto his bed.
Simmons then knocked her off the bed as she was attempting to distance herself from him, causing her to hit her head, the lawsuit states.
While still in “shock and fear,” Jarosik claims that Simmons “pounced on her “and “proceeded to rape her.”
Jarosik said she decided to speak out against Simmons after hearing other women accused the music producer of sexual assault.
