Just when you thought Russell Simmons had the last word stemming from his 2009 verbal attack towards Bill Cosby, think again.
The Def Jam Records cofounder leveraged his Global Grind platform to inform the masses of his most recent encounter with the renowned comedian, philanthropist and activist during last week’s Jackie Robinson Awards gala.
During the event, which honored hip-hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs with the Renaissance Man of the Decade award, Simmons attempted to make amends with the Emmy Award-winning comedy icon by apologizing for his criticism. His effort was met with a scathing response.
“I wanted to find him to apologize, to tell him I was sorry about my statements and to tell him that I loved him,” Simmons explained. “Suddenly, I turned and he was behind the curtain and I said, ‘I love you,’ and he responded on some real hip-hop, ‘Get the f*ck out my face!’ ”
The Philadelphia native has made it quite clear not to confuse him with Cliff Huxtable
The Philadelphia native has made it quite clear not to confuse him with Cliff Huxtable.
Prior to the two industry giants’ recent face-to-face meeting, Simmons wrote an open letter to Cosby in Nov. 2009 condemning and questioning his anti-hip hop campaign in addition to his generation’s propensity to correlate violence with today’s youth.
“It is certainly not that he and the rest of the elders don’t care, because they do,” he asserted. “In fact, their intentions are pure and good. All the things they say are actually true. What they don’t understand is that the young people who they criticize did not create their own realities.” he wrote, before adding, “Mr. Cosby, you know that your generation is carrying a lot more dirt, you are all just smart enough to cover it up.”
Not one to lose his cool, Simmons took a liking to Cosby’s off-color remark. In fact, he was even more intrigued by the their interaction following Simmons’ onstage presentation to Combs.
“His next move was straight-up old-school pre-b-boy hood sh–,” Simmons explains. “He walked by me and bumped me with his shoulder as I walked offstage after presenting my award to Sean, just like the cool-ass character in ‘Let’s Do It Again.’ I then loved him even more.”
“He’s from the same hood I’m from, just got a lucky break like me, cause I am [one of] those suffering men. And after that elbow, I knew he was too.”
