Hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons announced Thursday he is stepping down from leadership roles in the many businesses he owns after allegations of sexual assault against him.
Simmons, 60, co-founded Def Jam Recordings in 1984 after managing his brother Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons’ hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. in the early '80s. The recording company has signed many of the biggest names in hip-hop including Jay-Z, LL Cool J, and Justin Beiber.
Simmons also started several clothing lines, including Phat Farm, and created Rush Communications, a philanthropic vehicle that works to bring the arts to inner city youth. Simmons calls himself a “Christian yogi” and opened a yoga studio in Los Angeles called Tantris in 2016.
In a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter published Thursday, screenwriter Jenny Lumet accused Simmons of forcing her to have sex with him in 1991 after offering her a ride home in his chauffeured car.
Lumet’s allegation is the third against Simmons, with two other women having recently accused him, along with director Brett Ratner, of conspiring together to assault them.
"While I have never been violent, I have been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades and I sincerely and humbly apologize," Simmons said in a statement, Rolling Stone reported. "This is a time of great transition. The voices of the voiceless, those who have been hurt or shamed, deserve and need to be heard. As the corridors of power inevitably make way for a new generation, I don't want to be a distraction, so I am removing myself from the businesses that I founded."
Simmons plans to convert his yoga studio into a nonprofit learning and healing center, NBC News reported.
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