Joe Budden Insists People Will Never Stop Loving Russell Simmons

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Joe Budden is convinced that nothing can stop people from loving Russell Simmons, even after the Def Jam Recordings cofounder has faced over a dozen sexual assault allegations.

Joe Budden Insists Russell Simmons Will Always Be Loved

On Thursday (March 7), the 705th episode of the Joe Budden Podcast aired on YouTube. During the episode, which can be viewed below, Joe and his cohosts discuss the mass music industry layoffs, his recent comments on the women's rap wave being over, the upcoming Drake and 4Batz collab and more. Around the 1:52:00 mark of the video, the rapper-turned-podcaster opined on Usher recently facing backlash for visiting Russell Simmons in Bali, where the rap mogul has been living since he got hit with several sexual assault cases in 2018.

"They love Russell Simmons," Joe said. "I know that y’all don’t want to say it, y’all don’t want to admit to it. I know people seen whatever doc they seen, people believe what they believe. There’s nothing y’all can do to make people stop loving Russell Simmons. Not a thing in the world. Not a thing in the universe is going to make people stop loving Russell Simmons for as many lives as he impacted, as one man."

Joe continued: "Not to negate anything he's done—that stuff—but to the people that don't have that experience with him, he has been nothing but kind, gentle, sweet, generous and amazing if you don’t have that horror story."

Usher Receives Backlash for Visiting Russell Simmons Following New Lawsuit

Joe's comments come after Usher faced backlashed for visiting Russell in Bali earlier this week. The visit came a few weeks after Russell was sued on Feb. 13 by a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by Russell in the 1990s. Russell Simons has faced nearly 20 lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual impropriety since 2018.