L.A. Reid has settled a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit brought by former employee Drew Dixon on the very day the civil trial was scheduled to begin.
Dixon accused the former Arista Records chief executive, born Antonio Reid, of groping, kissing, and digitally penetrating her without consent on two occasions. She said the alleged incidents occurred after Reid joined the label in 2000 and that her career suffered when she rejected his advances. According to Dixon, budgets were cut and proposed artist signings were blocked, stalling what she described as a promising trajectory.
Reid denied the allegations. Dixon ultimately left Arista in 2002 to attend Harvard Business School, later saying that a “persistent campaign of sexual harassment and assault forced me to abandon the work I loved when I was at the top of my game.”
The lawsuit was filed under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which briefly reopened expired civil claims. Settlement terms were not disclosed. Dixon said she hoped the resolution would be “a ray of light peeking through the clouds” for survivors. Reid’s lawyer said the matter was resolved “without any admission of liability.”
Reid later held senior roles at Island Def Jam and Epic Records, stepping down from Epic in 2017 following another harassment claim.