L.A. Reid settles sexual assault case with former exec

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.

The terms of Reid's settlement with Drew Dixon were not made public.

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."

Musicians John Legend and Aku Orraca-Tetteh and recording executive Roy Lott were among the witnesses who had been set to testify on Dixon's behalf, according to her lawyer, Kenya Davis.

Reid, a 10-time Grammy nominee and three-time winner, and producing partner Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds cofounded LaFace Records, a label responsible for hits from some of the biggest pop acts of the 1990s, including Boyz II Men, Outkast and TLC. He later ran three of the industry's top labels -- Arista, Island Def Jam and Sony's Epic Records -- and is credited with influencing the careers of stars including Usher, Pink and Mariah Carey.

Reid and Dixon, a former executive at Arista, Def Jam and Legend's HomeSchool Records, resolved the lawsuit the same day jury selection was slated to begin in New York in a trial over her claims.

Dixon worked for Reid when he was Arista's chief executive. She alleged that he sexually assaulted her twice in 2001 and later cut her budget and sidelined artistes 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.

Reid left Epic Records in 2017 after a former female assistant accused him of sexual harassment.

Dixon went public with her allegations in 2017 and detailed them in the 2020 documentary On the Record. 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.

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