Russell Simmons privately apologized for sexual assault, accuser tells Megyn Kelly
Model Keri Claussen Khalighi is disputing Russell Simmons' denials that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
In a new interview on Megyn Kelly Today, Khalighi, now 43, opened up about how the hip-hop pioneer and social-justice activist previously apologized to her for the 1991 assault, initially reported by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
Khalighi told Megyn Kelly that she engaged in multiple conversations with Simmons about the assault.
“Russell and I have actually had a face-to-face confrontation about what happened, we’ve had phone conversations where there was no dispute about what we were talking about. And he actually apologized,” she explained to Kelly.
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“Part of what’s so confusing and re-traumatizing is that what he’s speaking about privately with me is completely different from what’s come out publicly,” she added.”That’s the piece that’s been, quite honestly, repugnant with hypocrisy and the lies and the denial.”
Khalighi, who is nine months pregnant with her third child, spoke from her home in L.A. about how she met Simmons at a casting call in New York City and accompanied him to his apartment, accompanied by Brett Ratner, who has also recently been accused of rape and assault by several women.
Once they reached Simmons' residence, where she expected to watch a video, she claims he ripped off her clothes and began sexually assaulting her, as Ratner watched.
"I looked over at Brett at that point for help," Khalighi recalled, noting she'll never forget the look on his face. "It was in that moment that I realized, 'I think this was their plan all along.' There was no help that was going to come."
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USA TODAY has reached out to Ratner's representatives for comment regarding his involvement in the alleged incident.
In an op-ed piece for The Hollywood Reporter published later Wednesday, Simmons, now 60, acknowledged speaking with Khalighi in the intervening years but maintained that any sexual contact was consensual.
"Three witnesses (Anthony McNair and two anonymous witnesses) have signed statements that our experiences that weekend with Keri Claussen Khalighi 26 years ago were consensual," he wrote. "My longtime loathing of any form of violence and abuse has been woven into all of my personal interactions, as most who know me will attest."
He added, "In our meeting many years later, and subsequent conversations, Keri never accused me of what she has said publicly. She insisted I was not violent. She did tell me her boyfriend and many others found out about our long weekend together and she said she was ashamed by that discovery. I am sorry for the embarrassment she recounted to me."
The show ran a statement by Simmons provided by his representative Eric Rose, which was later obtained by USA TODAY. In the statement, Simmons "completely and unequivocally (denied) the horrendous allegations of non-consensual sex against me with every fiber of my being."
After the Times published Khalighi's allegations against Simmons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews tweeted a screenshot of an email appearing to be from Simmons, suggesting that the actor forgive the man who allegedly groped him.
"Give the agent a pass," reads the email.
"Message Russell Simmons sent to me regarding my sexual assault case against Adam Venit of WME," Crews tweeted, before including Simmons' Twitter handle. "Dear @UncleRUSH -- NO ONE GETS A PASS."
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