STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

More Witnesses Step Forth In Russell Simmons' Sexual Assault Case

There are certainly some conflicting testimonies.

The recent sexual battery allegations against Russell Simmons, where statements from a then-unidentified woman led to an investigation of the famed music executive by Beverly Hills Police, have resurfaced.

This time, a new name has been attached to the accusations of the assault which allegedly took place over 26 years ago: Keri Khalighi. But she’s not the only one with a statement on the matter, and witnesses who claim to have been present during the incident are releasing their sides of the story as well.

According to a thorough recollection of the incident published by LA Times, and as told by Khalighi, the fashion model claimed that she was assaulted at Simmons’s apartment home in 1991 when she was 17 years old.

She added Brett Ratner, the lauded film producer and close friend of Simmons, to the allegations as well, claiming that after witnessing Simmons tear her clothes off with aggressive sexual advances, Ratner refused her pleas for help.

“In that moment, the realization fell on me that they were in it together,” LA Times reports of her statement.

According to The Shade Room, however, Simmons' statement not only passionately refuted Khalighi’s accusations, but stood beside three witness statements that were reportedly never used in the LA Times story. While much of Hollywood works to protect reputations amid disturbing legal circumstances, the Def Jam cofounder’s biggest concern is what the allegations will do to his relationship with his daughters, as TSR further reports.

This presumably prompted him to release the witness statements in addition to his own, where the anonymous sources recount details of the evening that stand in stark contrast to Khalighi’s memory of the incident. These details differ in considerable terms, including the venue where she claims her and Simmons were prior to arriving at his apartment and the different times in which she was actually in the same room as him while present at this residence.

No rebutting responses have been returned with the release of the testimonies.

Read their respective statements for yourself in the post below.

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