Record executive Antonio “L.A.” Reid settled a sexual assault and harassment lawsuit filed by former Arista Records A&R executive Drew Dixon on Monday, January 12, 2026, averting a high-profile federal jury trial in Manhattan where John Legend was slated to testify against him. According to the Los Angeles Times, the settlement came just as jury selection was set to begin, resolving allegations stemming from incidents in 2001.[1] The Hollywood Reporter, cited in Uptown Magazine, confirmed the agreement ended the long-running case without proceeding to trial.[2]
Dixon, a veteran music executive credited with early hip-hop and R&B breakthroughs including work with Kanye West, filed the lawsuit in November 2023 under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which temporarily reopened statutes of limitations for adult survivors of sexual abuse.[1][3][4] She alleged Reid sexually assaulted her twice in 2001—first by digitally penetrating her without consent on a private jet to a company retreat in Puerto Rico, and later by groping and kissing her against her will—and retaliated professionally by slashing her budget, rejecting artist signings like a young Kanye West, and berating her in front of staff after she rejected his advances.[1][2][4] Reid, who served as Arista CEO starting in 2000, “adamantly denied the allegations” in court filings, with his attorney Imran H. Ansari stating the matter was “amicably resolved without any admission of liability,” according to multiple outlets including the LA Times and Law Commentary.[1][3]
The case drew intense industry scrutiny, with Dixon preparing witnesses including Grammy winner John Legend and former executive Roy Lott to testify about Arista’s dynamics in the early 2000s.[2][4] Dixon’s attorney, Kenya Davis, announced the settlement outside the Manhattan federal courthouse, praising Dixon as “one of the most courageous and outspoken supporters of survivors” and noting her role in advancing the Adult Survivors Act.[3][4] Dixon herself expressed relief, stating, “I hope my work as an advocate… helps to bring all of us closer to a music business that is safer for everyone,” per AP News reports in Uptown Magazine.[2] She first publicized claims against Reid in 2017 and detailed them in the 2020 documentary On the Record, which examined sexual misconduct in music; she has also accused Russell Simmons of rape in separate litigation, which he denies.[2][3]
This resolution marks another chapter in the music industry’s #MeToo reckoning, preventing what Law Commentary described as one of the most closely watched trials and allowing both parties to avoid trial uncertainties, though terms remain confidential.[3] Critics like Lauren Hersh of World Without Exploitation told the LA Times the settlement “sends a signal to victims that despite the MeToo movement, we’re still not there in believing victims.”[1] For Reid, whose career includes leading Arista, Island Def Jam, and Epic Records before departing Epic in 2017 amid separate harassment claims, the outcome closes a reputational hit without admission of wrongdoing.[1][3] Dixon, pushed out of Arista in 2002, affirmed her intent to resume creative pursuits with her “reputation, her voice, and her career reaffirmed,” per her attorney.[2]
