Music honcho L.A. Reid settles with ex-recording executive who accused him of sexual assault

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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 artists 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.

Davis said the settlement will empower Dixon "to move forward with her creative pursuits on her own terms, with her reputation, her voice, and her career reaffirmed.”

Dixon went public with her allegations in 2017 and detailed them in the 2020 documentary “On the Record,” which discussed sexual misconduct in the music industry. 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, which had provided sex abuse accusers a one-year window to sue even if the statute of limitations has passed.

“I hope my work as an advocate for the Adult Survivors Act helps to bring all of us closer to a music business that is safer for everyone,” Dixon told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan. “And in a world where good news is often hard to find, I hope that survivors today see a ray of light peeking through the clouds.”

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

Dixon expanded on her future plans in a written statement, saying that music has always been her “greatest source of comfort and joy.”

“While I have focused on sexual assault advocacy in recent years, I have never stopped fighting for my place in this industry,” Dixon said. “I have big ideas for future projects that will be guided by creativity and integrity.”