Rap boss Russell Simmons has fired back at allegations he raped a filmmaker at his home in Los Angeles, insisting she's simply seeking a cash grab.
Jennifer Jarosik claims she was assaulted by the Def Jam Recordings co-founder in 2016 after he agreed to let her interview him at his home for a documentary she was working on.
She accused Simmons of pouncing on her and raping her when she refused to have sex with him.
Jarosik decided to go public with her story after other women began coming forward with similar stories about alleged encounters with Simmons, and is now asking for $5 million (GBP3.5 million) in damages.
Simmons has now responded to the claims, admitting he and Jarosik had a casual relationship that occasionally involved sex over the course of a decade, insisting all intimacy was consensual.
He also claims she sent him loving texts and nude photos after the alleged rape incident.
Simmons claims Jarosik decided to see "if she could extract large amounts of money" from him after "hearing that women were able to recover money for real abuse by sexual predators", according to TMZ.
The director is one of 16 women who have now accused Simmons of sexual misconduct and rape.
The latest alleged victim claims the embattled Def Jam co-founder raped her in a Sacramento, California hotel room.
The woman is seeking $10 million (£7 million) in punitive damages for the "severe emotional distress" the alleged incident caused her.
Simmons released a statement addressing the latest claim on 24 March (18). It read: "I vehemently deny all the allegations made against me. They have shocked me to my core as I have never been abusive or violent in any way in my relations with women.
"I have submitted myself to multiple lie detector tests. I denied forced sex and sexual harassment allegations brought against me in each test; I also answered no to the question, 'Have you ever physically forced any woman to have sexual intercourse?' I passed all of the lie detector tests."
