Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons denied allegations on Sunday that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old model in 1991 while Hollywood director Brett Ratner watched. In a statement, Simmons said he recalled a weekend 26 years ago that he spent with Keri Claussen Khalighi, but he said that what she described as assault was “completely consensual and with Keri’s full participation.”
Khalighi, now 43, declined to speak with NBC News, but she told the Times that Simmons, now 60, a co-founder Def Jam Records, was showing her a music video at his apartment with Ratner, who went on to direct “The Rush Hour” franchise and other films.