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L.A. Reid, music executive and former President and CEO of Arista Records, Epic Records, The Island Def Jam Music Group and co-Founder of LaFace Records, has been sued by Drew Dixon, a former Arista executive based on accusations that he sexually harassed and assaulted her in 2001.
Drew Dixon, a prominent former A&R music executive and now activist, filed a complaint on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that Reid sexually assaulted her on two occasions in 2001, and destroyed her career after she rejected his advances. Dixon has brought her claims under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows alleged victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has expired to file civil lawsuits during a one- year period, from November 24, 2022 to November 24, 2023.
Dixon, who also accused Russell Simmons of sexual assault and harassment, is a board member at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. She formerly served as Director of A&R at Def Jam Recordings and Vice President of A&R at Arista Records. She has numerous major “hit records” to her credit and was an industry star on the rise. Notably, Dixon is credited for the classic duet of Method Man featuring Mary J. Blige in “You’re All I Need” back during her Def Jam days. In December 2017, Dixon went public for the first time on her claims of sexual assault and harassment she had suffered in the music industry in a New York Times article, and she was the main subject of the 2020 HBO documentary On The Record, which documents her decision to come forward with her claims of sexual harassment and assault against Russell Simmons and she also mentioned Reid.
Dixon claims that Reid began harassing her shortly after he became President and CEO of Arista Records. She alleges that during a flight on a private jet in 2001, he groped her, kissed her and digitally penetrated her without consent. She further alleges that, the same year, Reid offered to give her a ride home so they could discuss work. There, with his driver also in the car, Reid allegedly kissed her and groped her, and then digitally penetrated her without her consent, notwithstanding her attempts to push him away.
Dixon alleges that after these incidents, Reid continued to harass her, including frequently inviting her up to his hotel room at the Four Seasons and calling her late at night. She alleges that, as she rejected these advances, he grew angrier and angrier, and she soon found her budgets slashed, her artists and music rejected by Reid and her career derailed. Believing that Reid would only continue to punish her further for rejecting his advances, Dixon left Arista and attended Harvard Business School.
Reid resigned as President and CO of Epic Records in 2017, following a sexual harassment claim by a former female assistant. Epic reached a settlement with the assistant later that year. He has since gone on to launch the HitCo label and as well as mega, a music collective.
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