Bossip
Video
Source:
Christopher
Polk
/
Getty
Antonio
“L.A.”
Reid,
the
Grammy
Award-winning
music
executive
who
influenced
the
careers
of
stars
like
Usher,
P!nk,
and
Mariah
Carey,
has
been
accused
of
sexual
assault
and
harassment
by
former
Arista
A&R
Vice
President
Drew
Dixon.
According
to
court
documents
obtained
by
the
New
York
Times,
Dixon
alleges
that
the
music
mogul
assaulted
her
twice
when
she
was
employed
under
Arista
in
the
early
2000s.
The
music
producer
and
activist
claims
that
Reid
“retaliated
against
her”
after
she
rejected
his
sexual
advances.
Dixon,
who
oversaw
the
recordings
of
legendary
hits
made
by
stars
like
Whitney
Houston,
Method
Man,
and
Carlos
Santana,
claims
that
she
was
the
victim
of
Reid’s
“sexualizing
and
harassing
behavior”
on
more
than
one
occasion,
according
to
the
suit
filed
in
Manhattan
Federal
District
Court
Nov.
8.
In
January
2001,
Dixon
flew
to
Puerto
Rico
with
Reid
for
a
company-wide
retreat
on
a
private
plane,
but
she
alleges
that
there
were
no
other
staff
on
board.
The
music
exec,
who
is
now
a
board
member
of
NYU’s
Clive
Davis
Institute
of
Recorded
Music,
alleges
that
the
industry
giant
“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.”
Later
that
year,
the
former
Def
Jam
A&R
claims
that
she
was
assaulted
again
by
Reid
when
she
accepted
a
ride
home
from
a
work
event
in
the
music
exec’s
chauffeured
car.
According
to
the
suit,
Reid
allegedly
“groped,
kissed
and
penetrated
her
without
consent,”
Reuters
noted.
Source:
jfizzy/Star
Max
/
Getty
In
her
complaint,
Dixon
states
that
she
was
at
the
height
of
her
career,
with
many
industry
insiders
branding
her
as
the
“female
Rick
Rubin”
due
to
her
iconic
work
in
Arista’s
A&R
division.
She
was
involved
with
the
production
of
notable
hits including
Whitney
Houston’s “My
Love
Is
Your
Love” and
Carlos
Santana’s
“Maria
Maria.” In
her
explosive
suit,
Dixon
says
it became
clear
Reid’s
troubling
behavior
would
“stifle”
her
promising
music
career.
After
she
began
to
reject
Reid’s
inappropriate
advances,
the
music
exec
alleges
that
the
LaFace
Records
co-founder
attempted
to
embarrass
her
“in
front
of
others”
and
displayed
unprofessionalism.
“Promotional
and
recording
budgets
were
suddenly
reduced
dramatically
or
frozen
altogether.
Song
demos
and
artist
auditions
were
flatly
rejected,”
the
lawsuit
states.
Dixon
alleges
that
Reid’s
egregious
behavior
began
shortly
after
he
took
over
Arista
following
Clive
Davis’
departure
in
2000.
The
eye-brow-raising
lawsuit
falls
under
the
Adults
Survivors
Act,
a
New
York
law
that
was
established
in
2022
that
gives
victims
of
assault
a
one-year
window
to
file
a
civil
lawsuit
against
their
abuser
if
they
were
over
the
age
of
18
at
the
time
of
the
incident.
The
window
closes
on
Nov.
24.
This
isn’t
the
first
time
Dixon
has
accused
a
prominent
music
figure
of
sexual
assault.
In
2017,
the
record
exec
publicly
accused
Def
Jam
co-founder
Russell
Simmons
of
rape.
In
her
lawsuit
against
Reid,
Dixon
alleges
that
Simmons
raped
her
in
1995,
but
he
is
not
named
as
a
defendant
in
the
complaint.
Dixon
was
featured
in
the
2020
HBO
Max
documentary On
the
Record which
details
sexual
misconduct
accusations
by
women
against
the
hip-hop
mogul.
