Music mogul LA Reid reached a settlement Monday with Drew Dixon, a former music executive and former employee of the Grammy winner’s, who accused him of sexual assault and harassment. According to The Guardian, the settlement comes on the same day the civil trial was set to begin.
Dixon claimed the former Arista Records chief executive sabotaged her career after she rejected his advances. She accused him of groping, kissing and digitally penetrating her without her consent on two separate occasions.
Here’s more on the settlement and Dixon’s lawsuit against Reid.
Settlement terms undisclosed, but both parties released statements
The terms of the settlement between Reid and Dixon have not been disclosed. However, both have released statements regarding the agreement.
Imran H. Ansari, a lawyer for Reid, confirmed that the music mogul “amicably resolved this matter with Ms. Dixon without any admission of liability.”
Dixon, who stood outside of court alongside her legal team and family, underscored her commitment to New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which she sued Reid under in 2023, The New York Times reported. The legislation gives adults a year to sue over alleged sexual abuses that took place outside of the statute of limitations.
“I hope my work as an advocate for the Adult Survivors Act helps to bring us closer to a safer music business for everyone,” she said in a statement, per The New York Times. “In a world where good news is often hard to find, I hope for survivors that today is a ray of light peeking through the clouds.”
She also shared she’s planning to return to her music career.
“I’m excited to get back to making music,” she said before reflecting on the “excruciating journey” she’s been through the last two years.
“While I have focused on sexual assault advocacy in recent years, I have never stopped fighting for my place in this industry,” she added. “I have big ideas for future projects that will be guided by creativity and integrity.”
Dixon alleged the music mogul sexually harassed her twice in 2001
In the lawsuit, Dixon, who worked for Reid when he was Arista Records’ chief executive, alleged the music mogul sexual assaulted her twice in 2001. After she rebuffed his advances, she claimed he cut her budget and deprioritized her artists, leading to her departure from the label in 2002. She argued that her “meteoric trajectory” in the music business halted after Reid’s harassment.
In 2017, Dixon publicly shared her alleged experiences and further detailed them in the 2020 documentary On the Record, which highlighted sexual misconduct in the music industry. Reid resigned from Epic Records in 2017 after a female staff member claimed he harassed her, per The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Dixon’s lawyer, Kenya Davis, musicians John Legend and Aku Orraca-Tetteh as well as recording executive Roy Lott were prepared to testify on the sexual assault advocate’s behalf.
Dixon, who went on to attend Harvard Business School after leaving Arista, is now a board member at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, The Guardian reported.