Music honcho L.A. Reid settles with ex-recording executive who accused him of sexual assault

NEW YORK (AP) — Grammy award-winning music producer Antonio “L.A.” Reid reached a settlement Monday with a former record company executive who alleged in a lawsuit that he sexually assaulted her and ruined her career.

Kenya Davis, a lawyer for plaintiff Drew Dixon, said the terms of the settlement were confidential.

Smiling with her family and lawyers outside court, Dixon said, “I’m excited to get back to making music.” She called the litigation an “arduous process." Her mother, former Washington, D.C., Mayor Sharon Pratt, called it an “excruciating journey.”

Reid's lawyer, Imran H. Ansari, said in a statement: “Mr. Reid has amicably resolved this matter with Ms. Dixon without any admission of liability.”

Reid and Dixon resolved the lawsuit the same day jury selection was slated to begin in a trial on her claims in Manhattan federal court. Musicians John Legend and Aku Orraca-Tetteh and industry executive Roy Lott were among the witnesses who had been set to testify on Dixon's behalf, Davis said.

Dixon, who worked for Reid when he was chief executive of Arista Records, alleged that he sexually assaulted her twice in 2001 and later cut her budget and sidelined artists when she rebuffed his continuing advances. Dixon left Arista in 2002 and contends that her “meteoric trajectory” in the music business was cut short by Reid’s harassment.

Davis said the settlement will empower Dixon "to move forward with her creative pursuits on her own terms, with her reputation, her voice, and her career reaffirmed.”

Dixon went public with her allegations in 2017 and detailed them in the 2020 documentary “On the Record,” which discussed sexual misconduct in the music industry. She has also accused ex-hip hop mogul Russell Simmons of rape, which he denies, and has a pending defamation lawsuit against him.

Dixon sued Reid in 2023 under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which had provided sex abuse accusers a one-year window to sue even if the statute of limitations has passed. Reid, who influenced the career of artists including Pink, Usher and Mariah Carey, left his position as CEO of Epic Records in 2017 after a former female assistant accused him of sexual harassment. From 2004 to 2011, he was the CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group.

“I hope my work as an advocate for the Adult Survivors Act helps to bring all of us closer to a music business that is safer for everyone,” Dixon told reporters outside the courthouse. “And in a world where good news is often hard to find, I hope that survivors today see a ray of light peeking through the clouds.”

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.

Dixon expanded on her future plans in a written statement, saying that music has always been her “greatest source of comfort and joy.”

“While I have focused on sexual assault advocacy in recent years, I have never stopped fighting for my place in this industry,” Dixon said. “I have big ideas for future projects that will be guided by creativity and integrity.”