Oprah rape doc irks accused
Music mogul Russell Simmons is challenging Oprah Winfrey for executive producing a documentary featuring a woman who has accused him of rape.
On Friday, Simmons took to Instagram to express his disappointment with Winfrey, whom he said he regarded fondly as a positive figure in his life before criticizing her decision to make a film exploring sexual assault allegations against him. The Apple TV+ project, set to debut at the Sundance Film Festival early next year, spotlights Drew Dixon, one of the first women to publicly accuse Simmons of rape.
"Dearest OPRAH, you have been a shining light to my family and my community. Contributing so much to my life that I couldn't list a fraction of it in this blog," Simmons captioned a photo of himself and Winfrey having a book talk. "This is why it's so troubling that you choose me to single out in your recent documentry (sic)."
"I have already admitted to being a playboy more (appropriately titled today 'womanizer') sleeping with and putting myself in more compromising situations than almost any man I know. So many that some could reinterpret or reimagine a different recollection of the same experiences."
Several women have accused the Def Jam Recordings co-founder of sexual assault spanning multiple decades. Simmons has denied the claims.
The primary subject of Winfrey's documentary is Dixon, who worked as an executive at Def Jam under Simmons in the 1990s and alleged in a 2017 New York Times article that he raped her in his apartment.
"Please note that ur producers said that this upcoming doc was to focus ONLY on 3 hand chosen women," Simmons continued in his lengthy post. "I have refused to get in the mud with any accusers, but let's acknowledge what i have shared. I have taken and passed nine 3-hour lie detector tests (taken...