Music executive L.A. Reid accused of sexual assault, lawsuit claims

NEW YORK — Three-time Grammy Award-winning music executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid is accused of sexual assault and harassment in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York.

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Reid, 67, who has worked with artists like Usher and TLC and headed the labels Arista Records and Def Jam Records, was accused by Drew Dixon, who worked for the executive at Arista, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. Federal District Court in Manhattan, alleges that Reid assaulted Dixon twice when she worked for him in 2000, according to the newspaper.

According to Dixon, 53, after she declined Reid’s alleged advances he retaliated against her professionally, Variety reported. Dixon claimed that Reid blocked her ability to sign artists like an up-and-coming John Legend, according to the entertainment news website.

Dixon left Arista in 2002.

Leaving the music industry “was devastating,” Dixon said in an interview, according to the Times.

“I have an opportunity now to seek some degree of accountability,” Dixon said. “And that’s really what I’m trying to do.”

Dixon also accused Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons of rape in 2017, according to Variety. Simmons denied the accusation, which stems from an alleged incident in 1995.

Dixon began working at Arista Records in 1996, joining the label as senior director of artists and repertoire, Rolling Stone reported. She was vice president of the A&R department when Reid became president and CEO of the company in 2000.

According to the lawsuit, Reid “almost immediately” began “sexualizing and harassing” Dixon, according to the magazine.

“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 Davis, one of Dixon’s attorney, told the Times. “He was relentless. And in defying him, she paid the price.”

Representatives for Reid, who recently launched an imprint called Mega through the new Gamma company, did not respond to requests for comment from Variety or the Times.

Reid stepped down as chairman of Epic Records in 2017, according to Variety.

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