Kelly Cutrone: Russell Simmons tried to rape me
Furious about Russell Simmons denying rape allegations against him, Kelly Cutrone has come forward to say that Simmons attempted to rape her in 1991.
Cutrone, who founded fashion PR powerhouse People’s Revolution and has starred in MTV’s “The Hills” and “America’s Next Top Model,” says she was incensed on Thursday to learn that Simmons was trying to start a #NotMe movement to deny sexual assault accusations that are made as part of the #MeToo movement. She said, “The #NotMe thing? I’m going to do a #YeahYou. F–k you.”
Simmons has been accused of sexual misconduct — including rape — by some 12 women. Although he has stepped down from his companies, including RUSH Communications, he strenuously denies any non-consensual sex.
Cutrone told Page Six that in 1991, when she was 26, she bumped into Simmons — whom she knew as a casual acquaintance — at a party and walked with him to another party. She tells us that he invited her to his apartment, and when she declined, the mogul said he needed to drop in at a friend’s house. Cutrone says she agreed to go, but she believes he led her to his own apartment instead.
“He pushed me into his apartment and then he threw me down on the floor and literally tried to grab … take my clothes off of me,” Cutrone told us, “And I started kicking him really, really hard, screaming, telling him to get the f–k off of me. And that I would have him killed if he ever f–king laid a hand on me.” She added, “I actually think I told him I would call Page Six! I was a publicist! I think I told him I would call Page Six and have him murdered.”
A friend of Cutrone’s, Tatijana Shoan, tells Page Six that she vividly remembers Cutrone telling her ex-husband Ronnie Cutrone — whom Shoan was dating — about Simmons attacking her.
Cutrone told us that after the alleged ordeal, she ran out of the apartment. “[Simmons] was just really shaken up and I f–king split. I remember running out the door and getting a cab and all I remember was that I got in a cab and I remember a feeling — which was so crazy — of, ‘Oh my god. Somebody just tried to rape me. What do I do?’ And then the energy of going to the police and pressing charges against him was overwhelming to me.”
She added, “Then what would happen afterward — and this would happen years afterward — I’d be at a table and Russell f–king Simmons would come up to the table and then people would be like, ‘Kelly, do you know Russell?,’ and I’d be like, ‘Yes, I know Russell — he tried to rape me.’”
Cutrone says she’s was horrified by Simmons’ #NotMe idea, which he unveiled on Instagram on Thursday saying, “My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold my accusers accountable.” Cutrone told us, “It’s a call to every man who wants the right to abuse women to continue.”
“All these guys [who have been accused of rape, including Simmons and Harvey Weinstein] have been doing is, like, go, like, ‘Hey, I’m really, really sorry and I’m going to step away from my business,’” said Cutrone, “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.” Of Simmons — an avid yogi — she added, “I hope he chokes on his om pendant.”
Simmons’ lawyer provided a statement to Page Six which didn’t address Cutrone’s claims, but referred to the mass of allegations against him: “I vehemently deny all these allegations. These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.”
He added that he has “enormous respect for the women’s movement worldwide and their struggle for respect, dignity, equality and power” and said he was “devastated by any reason I may have given to anyone to say or think of me in the ways that are currently being described.”
The statement went on: “In recent weeks, some former business, creative and romantic partners have aired grievances as claims I categorically reject. In some of these instances, financial motives and direct contradictory witness testimony has been supplied to the media, which has been completely left out of stories. In the last few days, one woman attempted to extort me for $500,000 only to recant her ridiculous claim.”
He said, “I have already apologized for the instances of thoughtlessness in my consensual relations. I have separated myself from my businesses and charities in order to not become a distraction.”