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On the Record (film)
On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.
On the Record is the fourth documentary released since the beginning of #MeToo that highlights allegations of sexual abuse against men in power, including Untouchable and the Surviving R. Kelly series. It is the third film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering about sexual assault, including The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground.
In 2016, Ziering served on the jury for the Sundance Film Festival. During a Women at Sundance dinner, Ziering was seated next to Rose McGowan, who shared with Ziering she had been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. Ziering asked McGowan if other women would speak. Later, Ziering and Dick flew to meet with Ashley Judd, and an unnamed actress, and began pitching the film around, where it was rejected.
Ziering and Dick put the project on hold, but when the #MeToo movement began, Ziering and Dick received calls from women willing to come forward, which is how they found Drew Dixon, the daughter of former Washington, D.C. mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and former Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia, Arrington Dixon. Dixon was the first woman to publicly levy allegations of assault against Russell Simmons, which were detailed in a New York Times article published in December 2017.
The film centers on allegations of sexual assault and harassment levied against Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, and features interviews with some of the over 20 women who have accused him, including Sil Lai Abrams, Sherri Hines, Jenny Lumet, and Alexia Norton Jones. The documentary spends the bulk of its screen time on the story of Drew Dixon, a former A&R executive at Def Jam Records who claims that Simmons raped her in his apartment. After leaving the company to work for Arista Records, Dixon claims that music executive L.A. Reid sabotaged her career when she rejected his sexual advances. On the Record also highlights the erasure of black women's voices from the #MeToo movement.
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kierna Mayo, and Tarana Burke offer commentary throughout the film.
In June 2019, Oprah Winfrey joined as an executive producer on the project under her Harpo Productions banner, with Apple TV+ acquiring distribution rights to the film as part of her overall deal with Apple. Ziering and Dick worked closely with Winfrey, sending her cuts, which received her enthusiastic approval.
Following the announcement of the film, Winfrey was targeted by Simmons and his supporters including 50 Cent, and she received phone calls and text messages from Simmons directly asking her to cancel the project. Additionally, the women involved with the film were targeted on social media, which the women viewed as attempts to threaten and intimidate them.
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On the Record (film)
On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.
On the Record is the fourth documentary released since the beginning of #MeToo that highlights allegations of sexual abuse against men in power, including Untouchable and the Surviving R. Kelly series. It is the third film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering about sexual assault, including The Invisible War and The Hunting Ground.
In 2016, Ziering served on the jury for the Sundance Film Festival. During a Women at Sundance dinner, Ziering was seated next to Rose McGowan, who shared with Ziering she had been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. Ziering asked McGowan if other women would speak. Later, Ziering and Dick flew to meet with Ashley Judd, and an unnamed actress, and began pitching the film around, where it was rejected.
Ziering and Dick put the project on hold, but when the #MeToo movement began, Ziering and Dick received calls from women willing to come forward, which is how they found Drew Dixon, the daughter of former Washington, D.C. mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and former Chair of the Council of the District of Columbia, Arrington Dixon. Dixon was the first woman to publicly levy allegations of assault against Russell Simmons, which were detailed in a New York Times article published in December 2017.
The film centers on allegations of sexual assault and harassment levied against Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, and features interviews with some of the over 20 women who have accused him, including Sil Lai Abrams, Sherri Hines, Jenny Lumet, and Alexia Norton Jones. The documentary spends the bulk of its screen time on the story of Drew Dixon, a former A&R executive at Def Jam Records who claims that Simmons raped her in his apartment. After leaving the company to work for Arista Records, Dixon claims that music executive L.A. Reid sabotaged her career when she rejected his sexual advances. On the Record also highlights the erasure of black women's voices from the #MeToo movement.
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kierna Mayo, and Tarana Burke offer commentary throughout the film.
In June 2019, Oprah Winfrey joined as an executive producer on the project under her Harpo Productions banner, with Apple TV+ acquiring distribution rights to the film as part of her overall deal with Apple. Ziering and Dick worked closely with Winfrey, sending her cuts, which received her enthusiastic approval.
Following the announcement of the film, Winfrey was targeted by Simmons and his supporters including 50 Cent, and she received phone calls and text messages from Simmons directly asking her to cancel the project. Additionally, the women involved with the film were targeted on social media, which the women viewed as attempts to threaten and intimidate them.