L.A. Reid was named in a lawsuit from former music executive Drew Dixon, alleging that the former Epic Records sexually assaulted her during her time at Arista Records where Reid served as its chief executive. Dixon claims that she was assaulted twice by Reid back in 2001 and that he was a barrier to her ascension in the music business after rejecting his advances.
A report from Reuters published this past Wednesday (November 8) details that Drew Dixon filed the suit in Manhattan federal court and asked for unlisted compensation and damages. The suit was filed under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act which allowed Dixon to bypass statutes of limitations expiration dates and bring claims even if they occurred a time ago.
This is not the first time Dixon has addressed her alleged assault, doing so once before in 2017 shortly after Reid stepped down from Epic Records after allegations of unlawful behavior involving a woman who worked for the company surfaced.
Today, Dixon serves as a board member for New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and was part of the documentary On The Record, highlighting the sexual misconduct allegations that continue to hound Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons.
Dixon, a former A&R for Def Jam Records, worked in the same role at Arista Records while helming the label during Clive Davis’ time. In 2000, Reid replaced Davis in the chief executive position.
The details of the assault, which might be disturbing to some, state that Reid allegedly assaulted her while on a private plane in 2001 and once more after an event in New York that same year.
Dixon left the music industry in 2002 and entered Harvard Business School.
In a statement delivered by her legal team, Dixon said that Redi’s “persistent campaign of sexual harassment and assault forced me to abandon the work I loved when I was at the top of my game in the music business.”
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