One of the funniest bits of news I’ve come across in an otherwise boring news cycle is that Russell Simmons is holed up in Bali, and still managed to receive a court summons all the way from the United States. The honor comes from Drew Dixon, who is suing Simmons for defamation of character after he denied sexual assault.
it takes It takes a full 24 hours to reach Indonesia, a country with which the United States does not have an extradition treaty, from most states. But I wish I could have seen Simmons’ face when he received (most people believe) the one thing he moved there to avoid. He reportedly received the summons in front of people. There was swearing involved.
The bigger show, of course, was the March 25 Homeland Security raid on the home of Sean “Diddy” Combs, who may have had his worst week ever , or at least the worst week since Casey exposed him in the suit last November..Dixon’s is quieter Lawsuit against Antonio “L.A.” Reed — the legendary record label executive most responsible for the success of Usher’s early career — was assaulted and harassed.
Cassie and Dixon’s lawsuit against Diddy, Reed and Simmons (who all claim innocence) stems from Window established by New York’s Adult Survivors Act has now expired. But it’s Cassie’s lawsuit in particular — which Diddy settled in less time than it took paint to dry — that appears to have prompted a series of men in hip-hop to finally be held accountable for their alleged sex crimes.
The original #MeToo movement in 2017 brought numerous male celebrities to heel, but it focused primarily on white perpetrators and their (often white) victims.Many black people skated except Bill Cosby Arguably because #MeToo is white women’s moment, while black women have been largely ignored. (It’s a travesty to me that #MeToo was created by a black woman, Tarana Burke.)
If a #MeToo reckoning is happening in hip-hop, some men should be sweating their 1,500-thread count: Trey Songz’s career continues despite miles of sexual misconduct accusations Manage to keep a low profile, just enough to stay off the radar. Several men emerged unscathed, including Nellie (who solved the rape case) and Dr. Dre (who pleaded no contest to domestic violence).
But if R. Kelly There are signs — it took a documentary spanning multiple nights during the #MeToo movement to finally get him out of here — that “cancellation” won’t be that easy, especially because our approaches are inconsistent. Chris Brown will grow old and die, but he’ll never forget what he did to Rihanna 15 years ago because we saw the aftermath; Grammys still have a star for Germany Special award named for Dr. Ray because we have no photos of what he did to Dee Barnes.
As with #MeToo, many people’s first reaction to years of accusations is: “Why now and not then?” It’s a question that can easily be answered with the mildest of brainpower: The world’s response to any sexual accusations Women were nowhere near as accepted as they are now—and you could buy more time for black women. Picture the video Fox Whistling to Diddy from Bad Boy’s heyday in the late 1990s.Just because she shakes her butt in a video, she gets dragged through the mud – so obviouslyher words are not credible.
Unfortunately, blaming bad black actors requires us to deal with the “tear-down” brigade, who seem content to ignore these accusations and any details within them in order to preserve the sanctity of their black icons.That guy on Facebook you haven’t seen in 25 years, since you graduated high school, happily tells you from the comfort of his mom’s basement that he firmly believes all sexual assault allegation all Black people are a conspiracy of the white Illuminati.
Of course, predators come in all shapes and sizes, but the more complex issue is asking people to atone for a quarter of a century’s worth of sins.We don’t expect these men to go to jail for the 1990s charges, but they could have a long road ahead of them They can get justice if they have to admit what they did.
Diddy and Simmons are both extremely wealthy. Imagine if they were found guilty and forced to provide financial compensation to their victims. Or imagine Simmons admitting that he sexually abused women during his storied four-year career and working to rehabilitate those victims and perhaps donate to causes that benefit other victims — that would be a mind-blowing moment. Shocking move.
Sadly, in hip-hop, few powerful black men accused of assault outright admit to wrongdoing. Let the internet tell us, there may be some other products ripe for the fall. Maybe one of them will break the mold. But I doubt it.
need help?Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.
