Oprah Winfrey Subpoenaed in Russell Simmons Defamation Case

Five years ago media mogul Oprah Winfrey famously dropped out of executive producing a MeToo documentary on Def Jam co-founder, Russell Simmons, after clashing with the other producers on the direction of the project [click here if you missed that]. 

Now former Def Jam exec, Drew Dixon, who is suing Russell for defamation of character after he branded her and the other women accusing him of rxpe as fame seekers [click here if you missed that], has subpoenaed Oprah Winfrey...

From Page Six

Drew Dixon, one of the women who have accused the DefJam mogul of sixual offenses including rxpe, has subpoenaed the TV legend in her defamation case against him, demanding Winfrey give evidence and cough up documents.

In 2017 former DefJam executive Dixon, accused Simmons in a New York Times article of rxping her in his apartment in 1995.

In 2024 she sued Simmons, claiming that he defamed her in a 2023 interview by casting doubt on her claims.

In a sit-down with journalist Graham Besinger, Simmons said: “Could someone want notoriety in the market where people thirst for fame?”

He also said “I’ve never been forceful in any of my relationships” and that all his relationships had been “consensual.”

She’s also suing over Simmons’ remarks about Winfrey’s part in the scandal.

He said in the Besinger interview that the OWN star had dropped out of producing a documentary, “On The Record,” which addressed a number of women’s accusations against Simmons, because she found “inconsistencies” in their allegations, and claimed that Winfrey had recordings of conversations with accusers that revealed those alleged inconsistencies.

(After she quit the project, Winfrey told the New York Times that she still believed Dixon, but the paper wrote that “she also thought there were inconsistencies in her account that the film had not adequately addressed.” The Times added that “the filmmakers say they have voluminous research files corroborating all the women’s accounts.”)

Now Page Six has learned that Dixon’s attorneys have subpoenaed Winfrey.

A subpoena to Winfrey from Dixon’s lawyers, seen by Page Six, reads: 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.”

It’s unclear what assets exactly were called for in the attachment, or whether Winfrey complied with the demand or had her lawyer fight the subpoena.

The subpoena goes on: “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.”