L.A. Reid has been accused of sexual assault by a former colleague (Picture: Eric Jamison/Invision/AP, File)
Record executive L.A. Reid – who has worked with the likes of Usher, Pink, and Mariah Carey – has been accused of sexual assault, it’s been reported by multiple US publications.
Drew Dixon, who worked for Reid at Arista Records, has reportedly issued a lawsuit in which she claims she was assaulted twice by the former CEO, now 67, in 2001. Of the alleged assaults, one was happened in a private plane, and the other in the back of Reid’s car.
The suit, filed by the Federal District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday, said when Dixon successfully rebuffed Reid’s advances on other occasions, he retaliated by limiting her professional scope – making it hard for her to sign artists like John Legend, according to the New York Times.
While Dixon – who was vice president of the artists and repertoire (A&R) department – left the company in 2002 and entered the industry again, she never recovered professionally from her time at Arista Records, according to the publication.
Dixon first spoke out in 2017, when she was one of three women who accused the music mogul Russell Simmons of rape (which he vehemently denied) while working at record label Def Jam.
Her lawsuit against Reid – full name Antonio Reid – states that Simmons raped her in 1995 but does not name Simmons as a defendant.
Reid has worked with the likes of Mariah Carey (Picture: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
Judges Britney Spears, Simon Cowell, and Demi Lovato sat on the judging panel with Reid (Picture: FOX Image Collection via Getty Images)
In the article for the New York Times about Simmons, Dixon accused Mr. Reid of quid-pro-quo harassment and sexualising her in the workplace. To this, Reid did not directly response to the accusation but apologised if his words were ‘misinterpreted’.
After her time at Def Jam, Dixon moved to Arista Records, where she claims her relationship with Reid – who she knew in the industry prior to him becoming CEO – changed when he entered the company.
‘Almost immediately,’ the suit said, he began ‘sexualizing and harassing’ Dixon, who was 29 at the time.
The suit alleges that in 2001 the label organised a company-wide trip to Puerto Rico, for which Dixon was invited to fly with Reid and other executives on a private plane – except she got there to find she would be flying alone with the CEO.
Dixon alleged Reid then ‘asked her to sit next to him to go over materials for the presentation, and then he began playing with her hair, kissing her and digitally penetrated her vulva without her consent’.
On arrival, she left her booked hotel room empty, sharing with her assistant, and travelled home on a commercial flight, the suit says.
While she tried to avoid being alone with Reid after this, the suit alleges he persisted in asking her ‘night after night’ to attend meetings in Manhattan’s Four Seasons Hotel.
The music mogul has been in the business since the 80s (Picture: Christopher Polk/AMA2013/Getty Images for DCP)
The producer was previously accused of sexual harassment in 2017 (Picture: FOX Image Collection via Getty Images)
Dixon said she sought council from a life coach on how to keep her career afloat amid his alleged advances, and her recent cancer diagnosis made her scared of losing health insurance at the time.
In addition to claiming Reid punished artists signed by Dixon by freezing budgets, and rejecting pitches put forward by her, the suit alleges he also ’embarrassed’ her in front of colleagues.
After accepting an offer for a ride home in Reid’s car later in 2001 – which she called a ‘mistake’ – Dixon claims he assaulted her for a second time.
‘When you’re talking about someone’s career being under siege, there is this dance that happens – her trying to make sure that she doesn’t completely alienate him, but she does not want to succumb to being assaulted,’ Kenya K. Davis, one of Ms. Dixon’s lawyers, said.
‘He was relentless. And in defying him, she paid the price.’
The music mogul has won three Grammys and appeared as a judge on The X Factor in 2011.
In 2017, Reid left Epic Records where he was CEO after a former female assistant accused him of sexual harassment.
Reid told the US publication at the time: ‘I’m proud of my track record promoting, supporting and uplifting women at every company I’ve ever run. That notwithstanding, if I have ever said anything capable of being misinterpreted, I apologise unreservedly.’
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He was on the US series in 2011.
