Russell Simmons Facing $3 Million Debt For Alleged Failed Settlement Payments To Three Women

Russell Simmons faces yet another legal obstacle after allegedly failing to fulfill previously agreed settlement payments to three women totaling $3 million, putting him in debt for this amount. The three individuals in question are Sil Lai Abrams, Wendy Carolina Franco, and Sherri Abernathy. Moreover, they reportedly agreed on confidential settlements with him in November 2023 for “alleged personal, physical injuries and sickness.” According to Variety, the payments were due by earlier this week on Tuesday (October 1). Simmons offered confessions of judgement and allowed the three women to pursue expedited judgements and start a collection process in the case of his default, which is now reportedly a reality.

However, Russell Simmons did not admit wrongdoing, and it’s unclear why these individuals agreed on these settlements due to the confidential nature of what court documents are available. Nevertheless, he agreed to pay Franco $515,000, whereas he reportedly promised to pay Abrams and Abernathy $1,265,000 each. Abrams previously alleged that Simmons sexually assaulted her in 1994, one of various allegations of sexual misconduct against the music executive. As previously stated, though, the nature of all the three settlements here is unclear.

Elsewhere, Russell Simmons appeared in the headlines recently for a social media interaction relating to the current Diddy scandal. He liked a post from Instagram page The Neighborhood Talk that shared a clip from an interview with Ariel Mitchell-Kidd, an attorney representing one of the Bad Boy mogul’s allege victims. Mitchell-Kidd alleged that someone contacted her about the sale of one of the alleged “freak-off” tapes. In addition, she brought forth the allegation that this footage features another high-profile celebrity. While many online users speculated about this “like,” it’s all just rumor and interpretation, not a concrete connection.

Meanwhile, Russell Simmons continues to engage in a legal battle with his ex, Kimora Lee Simmons. This is based on allegations that she stole money from him to bail her ex husband out of prison, to make a long story short. As for allegedly failing to pay these three women’s agreed court settlements, the available reports on the matter don’t indicate a next step.