Joe Budden Defends Russell Simmons As "Kind, Gentle, & Sweet" Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

BYCole BlakePublished on March 06, 2024738 Views

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Joe Budden says there's nothing that can be done "to make people stop loving Russell Simmons."

Joe Budden has come to the defense of Russell Simmons after over a dozen women have come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The conversation arose while Budden was discussing Def Jam co-founder linking up with Usher in Bali. After Simmons shared the picture of himself with Usher, fans on social media condemned the iconic singer for being affiliated with him.

“They love Russell Simmons,” Joe Budden said on his podcast. “I know y’all don’t want to say it, y’all don’t want to admit to it. I know people seen whatever doc they seen, people believe what they believe. There’s nothing y’all can do to make people stop loving Russell Simmons. Not a thing in the world. Not a thing in the universe is going to make people stop loving Russell Simmons for as many lives as he impacted.”

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He continued to say that Simmons "has been nothing but kind, gentle, sweet, generous and amazing if you don’t have that horror story.” He added: "As somebody that has spent a lot of time in the music business, nobody speaks to the side where the women were auctioning their p*ssy to move up in the ranks of the system. This existed way before I got to town. But that was happening too. But nobody says that part. Again, I’m not speaking about Russell Simmons, I’m just talking blanket, broad." Check out the full podcast episode below.

Joe Budden Speaks On Russell Simmons

The Joe Budden Podcast · Episode 705 | “Means To An End”

Simmons stepped down from his role at Def Jam back in 2017 amid the early allegations. Be on the lookout for further updates on Joe Budden on HotNewHipHop.

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About The Author

Cole Blake

Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.