{"id":55317,"date":"2026-01-10T14:38:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T14:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/l-a-reid-sexual-assault-trial-to-begin-next-week\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T14:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T14:38:29","slug":"l-a-reid-sexual-assault-trial-to-begin-next-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/10\/l-a-reid-sexual-assault-trial-to-begin-next-week\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. Reid Sexual Assault Trial to Begin Next Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDrew Dixon, the music executive behind hits such as Estelle\u2019s \u201cAmerican Boy\u201d and Whitney Houston\u2019s \u201cMy Love Is Your Love,\u201d will confront former Arista head L.A. Reid in Manhattan federal court on Monday in her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/la-reid-arista-drew-dixon-sexual-assault-trial-1235411588\/\">sexual assault trial <\/a>against him. Dixon, who was vice president of A&amp;R at Arista Records, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/l-a-reid-sued-for-sexual-assault-harassment-1234868685\/\">filed suit<\/a> against Reid in November 2023 alleging that he started harassing her shortly after he became the label\u2019s CEO in 2000. The sexual harassment, Dixon alleges, would be followed by sexual assault. Dixon rebuffed Reid\u2019s unwanted advances and he allegedly responded by trying to destroy her career \u2014 repeatedly thwarting the hitmaker\u2019s efforts to recruit and retain artists such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/author\/john-legend\/\">John Legend<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDixon, who said she was unable to contend with this alleged ongoing professional sabotage, left Arista in 2002 for Harvard Business School. She tried returning to the music industry in 2004,\u00a0 joining Legend as a general manager at Homeschool Records. But, Dixon alleges in court papers, she repeatedly ran into Reid and his associates at industry events, which proved a constant reminder of the alleged assaults. While Dixon, who is represented by attorneys Kenya Davis and Sigrid McCawley,<strong> <\/strong>at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, tried to shift from management to songwriting, this too required interaction with Reid whom she alleges antagonized her at a meeting rather than listen to an artist\u2019s music. Dixon claims that Reid continues to stymie her career. Here is what we know about the upcoming trial, held coincidentally in the same courthouse as the Sean Combs trial, when jury selection starts next week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>\u00a0Who is Drew Dixon?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDixon started working in the music industry more than 30 years ago. After graduating from Stanford University, she landed an internship at Jive Records and then a receptionist gig at Empire Artist Management. As a junior executive at Zomba Music Publishing, she signed Nas and top hip-hop producer Erick Sermon to publishing deals.\u00a0 Dixon said she met Reid in 1993 while attending a mastering session for Outkast\u2019s debut album. Dixon, who said Reid was impressed that she knew about the Atlanta group, left Zomba for a position of A&amp;R Director at Def Jam Recordings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn her role at Def Jam, Dixon helmed every element of recording Method Man and Mary\u00a0 J. Blige\u2019s classic \u201cI\u2019ll Be There for You (You\u2019re All I Need)\u201d and oversaw production of <em>The Show: The Soundtrack<\/em>. Dixon alleges that her boss at Def Jam, Russell Simmons, raped her in 1995. (Simmons has denied the allegation.) She left Def Jam and after a few months, took a job as senior director of A&amp;R at Arista Records. Clive Davis, Arista\u2019s founder, promoted her to Vice President of A&amp;R several years later. At Arista, Dixon signed artists such as Q-Tip and recognized top tracks such as \u201cMy Love Is Your Love,\u201d which Wyclef gave to her for Whitney Houston. She left Arista after the alleged assaults, received her MBA from Harvard, and returned to the music industry as a general manager at Homeschool Records with Legend, according to court papers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Who is L.A. Reid?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAntonio Marquis \u201cL.A.\u201d Reid is a Grammy Award-winning recording executive with a long record of signing top artists. Reid\u2019s entree into the music industry was as a funk rock drummer and then as a member of R&amp;B group the Deele with Kenneth \u201cBabyface\u201d Edmonds. Reid and Edmonds launched LaFace Records in 1989 as a joint venture with Arista and became the label for chart-topping artists like Usher, OutKast, Pink, and Avril Lavigne. When LaFace merged with Arista in 2000, he became the company\u2019s president and CEO. Arista\u2019s parent company, BMG, and Sony merged in 2004, which released Reid from his contract, per court papers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tReid went on to launch the musical revivals of Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez and racked up numerous songwriting credits on tracks such as Whitney Houston\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Your Baby Tonight\u201d and Boyz II Men\u2019s \u201cEnd of the Road,\u201d court papers state. Reid became CEO of Epic Records in 2011. Under Reid\u2019s leadership, four of the label\u2019s artists\u2014DJ Khaled, A Tribe Called Quest, Future, and Travis Scott\u2014debuted chart-topping albums. Reid left Epic in 2017 after an assistant accused him of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/sexual-misconduct\/\" id=\"auto-tag_sexual-misconduct\" data-tag=\"sexual-misconduct\">sexual misconduct<\/a>. He would ultimately sell the entirety of his publishing interest and writer\u2019s share of income for his 162-song catalogue to a company called Hipgnosis and join its board. Reid worked with Usher on an album in 2023. When the lawsuit was filed, Reid was believed to be worth some $300 to 500 million, court papers state.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>What is Reid Accused Of?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDixon alleges that Reid started harassing her shortly after he started at Arista in 2000. Reid alleges that he asked her to attend industry events with him and his wife and help them find an apartment. She \u201cfelt it was an odd request but thought perhaps he was planning to use his home as an extension of his office, so she agreed,\u201d according to court papers.\u00a0 When Dixon arrived to one apartment showing, she found out that Reid\u2019s wife would not be there. \u201cDuring 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 \u2018in love with her,\u2019\u201d per the lawsuit.\u00a0 The next year, Dixon unexpectedly found herself alone on a plane with Reid en route to a company retreat in Puerto Rico, having thought other Arista execs would be on the aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tReid, she said, started \u201cflirting with her right away.\u201d Dixon said she went to the restroom to \u201cbuy time waiting for other executives to arrive.\u201d She eventually left the restroom only to find herself alone in the plane with Reid.\u00a0 \u201cHe 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,\u201d she alleges in her suit. \u201cMs. Dixon spent the rest of the flight in a daze.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tAfter returning to New York City, Dixon tried \u201cto dodge his overtures without offending and upsetting him\u201d but he punished her for doing so, \u201cembarrassing her in front of others or otherwise being curt and unprofessional.\u201d A few months later, following a work event, \u201cReid insisted that Ms. Dixon join him for a ride to drop her at home so they could continue to discuss work.\u201d Dixon thought it would be OK, as there was a driver present.\u00a0 But Reid \u201cbegan to grope and kiss Ms. Dixon, who squirmed and pushed him away as Mr. Reid\u2019s driver stared straight ahead\u201d and would \u201cagain digitally penetrat[e] Ms. Dixon\u2019s vulva without her consent,\u201d court papers contend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>How has L.A. Reid Responded?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tReid has denied Dixon\u2019s allegations in court papers. Imran H. Ansari, an attorney for\u00a0Reid declined to comment prior to trial.\u00a0In a 2017 <em>New York Times <\/em>article in which Dixon <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/13\/arts\/music\/russell-simmons-rape.html\">accused Simmons of rape<\/a>, she accused Reid of sexual harassment. According to the <em>Times<\/em>, \u201cReid did not address her complaints directly but apologized if his words were \u2018misinterpreted.&#8217;\u201d (Simmons denied the allegation.)<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t<strong>Who Will Testify?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tDixon and Reid will testify. John Legend is among other witnesses expected to take the stand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/l-a-reid-drew-dixon-sexual-assault-trial-1235496864\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drew Dixon, the music executive behind hits such as Estelle\u2019s \u201cAmerican Boy\u201d and Whitney Houston\u2019s \u201cMy Love Is Your Love,\u201d will confront former Arista&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":55318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}