Decoding Russell Simmons’ $100 Million Social Media Demand From HBO

The Def Jam founder claims that HBO "intentionally suppressed" evidence he claims would have refuted the sexual assault claims against him.

Last year, Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against HBO and the directors of the documentary, On the Record, for the multiple sexual assault allegations levied against him.

Now, in a post on Threads, Simmons said the company owes him “100s of millions of dollars.”

He accused the company of being “horrific and malicious” in the documentary, and that evidence that may have cleared him was “intentionally suppressed.” For those reasons, he must be compensated with $100 million.

View on Threads

The 2020 documentary featured several women accusing Simmons of sexual harassment, rape, and sexual misconduct.

HBO refutes claims that Simmons was ignored in the creation process. Although there was a one-year statute of limitations on his lawsuit, Simmons stated in the recent filing that, because the documentary was re-released, it continues to tarnish his reputation and falls within the one-year window.

A day after Simmons posted the latest demand, according to AllHipHop, three women went to a New York court to request that the mogul pay more than $3.4 million that he owes from sexual assault settlements.

Attorneys for the three women, Sheri Abernathy, Sil Lai Abrams, and Wendy Carolina Franco, filed the claim in the New York Supreme Court, alleging that Simmons missed a January 1 deadline to pay the settlements he signed in October 2025.

In October 2024, Abrams, Abernathy, and Franco filed for “confessions of judgment.” The request was filed after Simmons agreed to pay $1,265,000 each to Abrams and Abernathy, and $515,000 to Franco.

Based on recent documents filed, since Simmons allegedly failed to pay, they are now requesting increased “confessed” amounts, including interest and enforcement costs: $1,614,290.74 for Abernathy and Abrams, and $711,000.31 for Franco.

The recalculated amounts include 9 percent annual interest and additional legal fees.