Def Jam founder and CEO Russell Simmons has stepped down from the top role at his rap label and its sister company Rush Communications, after a sexual harassment claim was made against him today in the form of an open letter published in the Hollywood Reporter by screenwriter Jenny Lumet (daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet and granddaughter of singer Lena Horne).

Lumet wrote a guest column in the entertainment industry publication claiming Simmons forced her to have sex with him in 1991 when she was 24 after the two had been friends and after Simmons had pursued her romantically and she had rebuffed him.

An excerpt from her open letter reads:

    "I didn’t recognize you at that moment. It was disorienting. It was disorienting. I say it twice, now, because you said “No” twice, then.

    I couldn’t open the doors. I couldn’t open the windows. The car was moving. The driver did not stop. He did not take me to 19th Street. He took me to your apartment.

    I didn’t try to kick the windows out. I didn’t punch or kick. I didn’t say “What are you doing?” My voice left me after the second 'No.'"

Lumet eloquently explains the fallout since that fateful day and how telling her story is a risk, but not as much for her as for other women less fortunate:

    "I have built a life in the past 25 years, and a reputation in my industry. I need no one to have this visualization of me. I will, like the others, lose work because of this. I realize how privileged I am to be able to risk that. I have children. I’m aware that every mistake, act of thoughtlessness, hypocrisy or cruelty I’ve committed in my 50 years will be excavated, and they’ll see all of it.

    There is so much guilt, and so much shame. There is an excruciating internal reckoning. As a woman of color, I cannot express how wrenching it is to write this about a successful man of color. Again, shame about who I was years ago, choices made years ago. In this very moment, I feel a pang to protect your daughters. I don’t think you are inclined to protect mine."

Simmons released a statement Thursday announcing he'd step down from his companies in response to Lumet's claim -- and to another claim made by model Keri Claussen Khalighi reported in the Los Angeles Times on November 19th to which Simmons replied, "I have never committed any acts of aggression or violence in my life. I would never knowingly cause fear or harm to anyone.”

Now, Simmons is singing a different tune, responding to Lumet's claim with this:

    "I have been informed with great anguish of Jenny Lumet's recollection about our night together in 1991," Simmons said in a statement. "I know Jenny and her family and have seen her several times over the years since the evening she described. While her memory of that evening is very different from mine, it is now clear to me that her feelings of fear and intimidation are real. While I have never been violent, I have been thoughtless and insensitive in some of my relationships over many decades and I sincerely and humbly apologize.

    This is a time of great transition. The voices of the voiceless, those who have been hurt or shamed, deserve and need to be heard. As the corridors of power inevitably make way for a new generation, I don't want to be a distraction so I am removing myself from the businesses that I founded. The companies will now be run by a new and diverse generation of extraordinary executives who are moving the culture and consciousness forward. I will convert the studio for yogic science into a not-for-profit center of learning and healing. As for me, I will step aside and commit myself to continuing my personal growth, spiritual learning and above all to listening."