As trial nears within the sexual assault case in opposition to legendary music government Antonio “L.A.” Reid, a choose has dominated that former Arista A&R government Drew Dixon can hold in search of damages over commissions she supposedly misplaced when Reid refused to signal Ye (previously Kanye West) and John Legend to the label.
The ruling on Thursday (Aug. 7) comes only one month earlier than Dixon’s civil claims in opposition to Reid are scheduled to go to trial in New York federal courtroom. Dixon’s 2023 lawsuit alleges that Reid — who headed up Epic, Island Def Jam and Arista over the course of a storied profession — sexually harassed her repeatedly after which forcibly kissed and groped her twice in 2001.
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Dixon says that along with making her “depressed and suicidal,” Reid’s alleged abuse value her precious skilled alternatives. She claims that after she rejected Reid’s sexual advances, he retaliated in opposition to her by refusing to signal two promising younger artists she needed to deliver to Arista: Ye and Legend.
The lawsuit alleges that Reid berated Dixon in entrance of Arista’s total A&R division about Ye’s audition being a “waste of his time,” and that he didn’t even trouble to point out up for Legend’s audition. Dixon says she misplaced out on hefty future commissions due to these signing snubs. Neither Ye nor Legend is accused of any wrongdoing.
Reid “adamantly” denies all of Dixon’s claims and is scheduled to contest them earlier than a jury beginning Sept. 8. Forward of trial, his legal professionals had sought to restrict Dixon’s potential restoration by arguing in a so-called abstract judgment movement that any damages over the Ye and Legend auditions are outdoors the statute of limitations.
However Choose Jeannette A. Vargas refused in Thursday’s order to bar these misplaced commissions from the upcoming trial. The choose says Dixon can hold pursing such damages, at the least for now, below New York’s Grownup Survivors Act (ASA) — a regulation that created a one-year window for in any other case time-barred sexual assault claims to be introduced in courtroom.
“Defendant is appropriate that, for a reason behind motion to be revived below ASA, it should be introduced for an damage or situation suffered because of conduct which might represent a sexual offense,” writes Choose Vargas. “It doesn’t observe from this, nonetheless, that damages are restricted as soon as a reason behind motion has been revived.”
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The choose notes, nonetheless, that Dixon’s abstract judgment ruling is just contemplating the problem of the statute of limitations, and “it could be that plaintiff can’t recuperate misplaced commissions below any of the asserted causes of motion.” Thus, it stays to be seen whether or not Dixon will truly be capable to win a cash judgment for these misplaced signing charges at trial.
Reps for Dixon and Reid each didn’t return requests for touch upon the choice.
Reid’s public picture has been shaky since 2017, when, throughout his tenure as head of Epic File,s he was accused of sexually harassing a feminine assistant. He exited Epic however stayed within the music enterprise, launching the HitCo label and later co-founding music collective Mega alongside Usher.
Whereas Reid has been represented within the Dixon lawsuit by powerhouse leisure lawyer Shawn Holley, he’s presently staring down the September trial with out an legal professional after falling behind on his authorized payments and refusing to return Holley’s calls.
Choose Vargas is permitting Holley and her crew to step away from the case as a result of this rift, however says Reid’s Sept. 8 trial date is agency. Meaning Reid should both get a brand new lawyer earlier than then, characterize himself or be subjected to a default loss if he’s a no-show.
Dixon can be amongst a number of ladies who’ve accused Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons of rape. Simmons has publicly accused Dixon of mendacity concerning the incident, resulting in ongoing defamation litigation between the 2.