Oprah Winfrey Subpoenaed By Russell Simmons Rape Accuser

Oprah Winfrey has been dragged into the Russell Simmons rape case by way of a subpoena. According to Page Six, Drew Dixon has subpoenaed the former talk show host, pressuring Winfrey to present evidence supporting her claims in a defamation suit against the Def Jam mogul.

The legal document obtained by the outlet details information that Dixon and her legal team are requesting from Winfrey, including “all other tangible things” that corroborate her claims. Dixon’s docs also demand that the Color Purple entertainer appear in court to testify in her rape case against Simmons.

The subpoena stems from the former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon previously accusing Simmons in a New York Times piece of raping her in his apartment back in 1995. Simmons would respond to the claims in an interview with Graham Besinger in 2024, during which he was asked about Dixon’s claims. The Queens native asserted that he had “never been forceful in any of my relationships” and labeled every encounter he has had with women as “consensual.” Simmons then pondered rhetorically, “Could someone want notoriety in a market where people thirst for fame?”

Later in the interview, Simmons spoke about Oprah’s involvement in a documentary called On The Record. The documentary was set to explore various women’s sexual assault accusations levied at Russell, but Winfrey dropped out of the project as producer after claiming she found “inconsistencies” in their allegations. The embattled mogul claimed that Winfrey even had “recordings of conversations with accusers that revealed those alleged inconsistencies.”

Dixon would retaliate with a February 2024 defamation lawsuit against Simmons for his comments. The legal documents claimed that Simmons “has gone on a concerted and malicious campaign to discredit Ms. Dixon and to so damage her reputation” and “this defamation has exacerbated the paralyzation of Ms. Dixon professionally.” 

After quitting the project, Oprah later spoke with the New York Times and told them that she believed Dixon’s accusations to be true. But Winfrey didn’t budge on her belief that her and other women’s accounts involved inconsistencies. However, the publication reported, “the filmmakers say they have voluminous research files corroborating all the women’s accounts” — which led directly to Dixon’s most recent subpoena against the millionaire.

“You are hereby commanded… to produce the books, records, papers, data, documents, evidences, writings, and all other tangible things as described more fully in the attached Schedule A at [law firm] Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, 55 Hudson Yards, New York, New York 10001, or electronically to undersigned counsel, on or before March 18, 2025,” the subpoena reads.

“You are further commanded to… to appear and attend before a notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths… and at any recessed or adjourned date, to testify and give evidence, as a witness on an examination before trial by deposition upon oral questions.”

Russell Simmons has never been arrested or charged as a result of Drew Dixon’s claims.