Music executive L.A. Reid settled sexual assault lawsuit on the day the civil trial was scheduled to begin | music

Grammy Award-winning music impresario L.A. Reid settled a lawsuit brought by a former employee who accused him of sexual assault and harassment, on the day the civil trial was scheduled to begin.

In 2023, Drew Dixon alleged that former Arista Records CEO born Antonio Reed — who helped develop Mariah Carey, TLC, Pink and Usher — derailed her career after she rejected his advances in 2021. Dixon said he groped, kissed and digitally penetrated her without her consent on two occasions.

She alleged that Reed began harassing her shortly after he started working at Arista in 2000. When she rejected his advances, she said her promising career had been thwarted by cuts to her budgets and rejection of her proposed signings. Reed subsequently denied the allegations.

She resigned in 2002 to attend Harvard Business School, saying in a statement filed by her lawyers in 2023 that Reid’s “ongoing campaign of sexual harassment and assault forced me to give up the work I loved while I was at the top of my game in the music business.”

Reid left Arista in 2004 to serve as CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group, and later Epic Records. In 2017, Reed resigned from Epic following a harassment claim from a female employee, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Dixon, now a board member of New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, filed suit under New York State’s adult survivors law, which gave adults in 2023 a year-long window to sue for alleged sexual abuse that occurred outside the statute of limitations.

Details of the settlement between Reed and Dixon were not disclosed, but both parties issued statements about the decision.

“I hope my work as an advocate for the Adult Survivors Act will help bring us closer to a safer music business for everyone,” Dixon said. “In a world where good news is often hard to find, I hope today’s survivors will be a ray of light peering through the clouds.”

“Mr. Reed has resolved this matter amicably with Ms. Dixon without any admission of liability,” said Imran Ansari, Reed’s attorney.

Previously, Dixon was one of three women who accused Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons of rape. She appeared in the 2020 documentary On the Record, about women making allegations against a music executive. More than 20 women have accused Simmons of sexual assault, accusations he has consistently denied.