L.A. Reid Settles With Sexual Assault Accuser Ahead of Trial

Drew Dixon, the music executive whose hitmaking credits include chart-toppers such as Method Man and Mary J. Blige’s classic “I’ll Be There for You (You’re All I Need),” settled her sexual assault lawsuit against ex-Arista Records head L.A. Reid on the day their Manhattan federal court trial was scheduled to begin. 

Reid’s attorney, Imran H. Ansari, said in an email: “Mr. Reid has amicably resolved this matter with Ms. Dixon without any admission of liability.”

“We are happy to report that a settlement has been reached, the terms of which are confidential,” Dixon’s lawyer, Kenya Davis, said outside court Monday afternoon. 

Davis’ comment came shortly after she, Dixon, several members of Dixon’s family, and other attorneys left the courthouse. While the trial was slated to start this morning, the group could be seen conferring in the courthouse cafeteria for several hours. 

Dixon smiled when they announced the settlement. “I am deeply grateful to my mother and children for their enduring love and support,” Dixon said following Davis’ announcement.

Dixon, who worked as vice president of A&R at Arista Records, sued Reid in November 2023 claiming that he started harassing her almost immediately after he became CEO in 2000. This sexual harassment, Dixon alleges, was swiftly followed by sexual assault.  Dixon insists in court papers that she rejected Reid’s unwanted overtures and accuses him of trying to derail her career in response. He even thwarted her attempts to sign and keep artists including John Legend, her suit alleges.  

Reid has denied Dixon’s claims in court papers. Dixon alleged that disgraced hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of rape in a 2017 New York Times article and in her account, alleged that Reid sexually harassed her. “Reid did not address her complaints directly but apologized if his words were ‘misinterpreted,” per the Times. (Simmons denied Dixon’s allegations.)

Dixon claimed in her suit that Reid started harassing her not long after he started at Arista in 2000. She alleged that the initial inappropriate behavior included Reid asking her to attend industry events with him and his wife and assist them in finding an apartment. Dixon said in the suit that she “felt it was an odd request but thought perhaps he was planning to use his home as an extension of his office, so she agreed.”  

Dixon arrived at one apartment showing, and learned Reid’s wife was not there. “During the entire afternoon of showings Mr. Reid made flirtatious comments. It was so pervasive that it caused the realtor to comment to Ms. Dixon privately that he was left with the impression that Mr. Reid was ‘in love with her,’” according to court papers.  In 2001, Dixon wound up alone with Reid on an airplane with Reid to a company gathering in Puerto Rico. She believed having other Arista executives would be going with them, according to court papers.

Reid, she contends, began “flirting with her right away.” Dixon claimed she went to the bathroom to “buy time waiting for other executives to arrive.” She exited the restroom and found herself alone with Reid  “He asked her to sit next to him to go over materials for the presentation, and then he began playing with her hair, kissing her and digitally penetrated her vulva without her consent,” she contends in her suit. “Ms. Dixon spent the rest of the flight in a daze.”  

When she came back to New York City, Dixon attempted “to dodge his overtures without offending and upsetting him” but he retaliated, according to the lawsuit, “embarrassing her in front of others or otherwise being curt and unprofessional.” In a few months, “Reid insisted that Ms. Dixon join him for a ride to drop her at home so they could continue to discuss work.” Dixon thought nothing would happen since there was a driver in the vehicle. Reid, however, “began to grope and kiss Ms. Dixon, who squirmed and pushed him away as Mr. Reid’s driver stared straight ahead” and would “again digitally penetrat[e] Ms. Dixon’s vulva without her consent,” court papers allege. 

Following the settlement, Dixon said she is looking forward to getting back to what she loves. “Music has always been my greatest source of comfort and joy. Even as a kid, I had an uncanny knack for predicting the next cool artist or album, the more eclectic the better,” she said. “While I have focused on sexual assault advocacy in recent years, I have never stopped fighting for my place in this industry. I have big ideas for future projects that will be guided by creativity and integrity.”