Publicist Kelly Cutrone is the latest woman to share a harrowing past experience with hip-hop icon Russell Simmons. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cutrone spoke with Page Six on Thursday after reading about how vehemently Simmons was denying the multiple, disturbing allegations against him on his personal Instagram account.
"Today, I begin to properly defend myself. I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges," he captioned an image that read, "#NotMe." The post named two of his accusers, Keri Claussen and Jenny Lumet by name.
Simmons added in his Instagram post that his "intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement."
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Cutrone responded to that particular comment in her interview with Page Six.
"The #NotMe thing? I’m going to do a #YeahYou. Fuck you," she said.
Cutrone alleges that in 1991, Simmons physically "pushed" her into his apartment and attempted to rape her.
"He threw me down on the floor and literally tried to grab...take my clothes off of me," she said. "And I started kicking him really, really hard, screaming, telling him to get the fuck off of me."
She continued to say that she even threatened at the time to "call Page Six and have him murdered." Before Simmons could go any further, Cutrone said she was able to escape and hail a cab, but that the thought of "going to to the police and pressing charges against him was overwhelming."
Now, more than two decades later, Cutrone said she felt compelled to come forward and speak out, following allegations of sexual misconduct made against powerful Hollywood professionals like Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer.
"All these guys have been doing is go, like, 'Hey, I’m really, really sorry and I'm going to step away from my business,'" Cutrone said. "But you know what, a lot of these women have to go to work everyday because they have to pay bills and they haven't made $100 million."
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that three women had accused Simmons of rape, while a fourth joined a long list of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
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Refinery29 has reached out to both Cutrone and Simmons for comment.
If you have experienced sexual violence of any kind, please visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999.
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