Oprah Winfrey has been dragged into hip-hop icon Russell Simmons’ high-profile rape case.
The billionaire, 71, has been subpoenaed by Drew Dixon, one of Simmons’ alleged victims, in her ongoing defamation lawsuit against the rapper, according to Page Six.
Dixon is suing Simmons over remarks he made in a 2023 interview about her rape claims and about Winfrey dropping out of executive producing a 2020 documentary on the scandal.
Simmons claimed that Winfrey had backed away from the project after discovering ‘inconsistencies’ in Dixon and other alleged victims’ stories after reviewing recorded conversations.
Now, attorneys for Dixon have commanded that Winfrey handover documents and other evidence, giving the talk-show icon a March 18 deadline.
They also commanded Winfrey testify and give a deposition that ‘may be videotaped’
Oprah Winfrey has been dragged into hip-hop icon Russell Simmons’ high-profile rape case; Oprah seen in January
‘You are hereby commanded… to produce the books, records, papers, data, documents, evidences, writings, and all other tangible things as described more fully in the attached Schedule A at [law firm] Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, 55 Hudson Yards, New York, New York 10001, or electronically to undersigned counsel, on or before March 18, 2025,’ the subpoena begins.
‘You are further commanded to… to appear and attend before a notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths… and at any recessed or adjourned date, to testify and give evidence, as a witness on an examination before trial by deposition upon oral questions.’
The documented concluded with: ‘This deposition may be videotaped and will continue from day to day until complete.’
According to Page Six, it remains unclear if Winfrey complied with the demands laid out in subpoena by the March 18 deadline or if her lawyers worked to fight it.
It’s also unclear what assets were called for.
Dixon launched her defamation case in 2024 after Simmons spoke on her allegations during a sit-down interview with Graham Besinger in 2023.
He seemingly suggested that Dixon was ‘[thirsting] for fame’ and seeking ‘notoriety’ by accusing him of raping her at his apartment 30 years ago.
He also insisted that he’d only ever had ‘consensual’ relationships with women and that he’d ‘never been forceful in any of my relationships.’
In this same interview, he spoke on Winfrey’s exit from On The Record, a documentary about Simmons’ alleged crimes and rape accusers, was the result of her finding ‘inconsistencies’ in Dixon and others women’s stories.
Simmons claimed that Winfrey had recordings of the victims that revealed the alleged ‘inconsistencies.’
The billionaire, 71, has been subpoenaed by Drew Dixon, one of Simmons’ alleged rape victims, in her ongoing defamation lawsuit against the rapper, according to Page Six; Simmons seen in 2023
