Posted by Russell Simmons has reignited his long-running conflict with HBO, issuing a sharp demand for financial restitution tied to the network’s 2020 documentary Off the Record. The renewed challenge surfaced January 8 in a post on Threads that paired pointed language with striking visuals.
Simmons accompanied his message with an AI-generated image showing himself surrounded by falling money, a visual that matched the scale of the claim he was making. In the post, he accused the network of owing him an enormous sum and framed the demand as necessary compensation rather than a bid for personal enrichment.
“HBO you owe me 100s of millions of dollars,” Simmons wrote. “I need my bread, for all my charities and family members, specifically my children.”
He connected the requested payout to broader consequences he says followed the documentary’s release, positioning the money as restitution tied to both personal and charitable obligations. The tone of the post quickly sharpened as Simmons went on to accuse the network of intentional wrongdoing.
“You know what you did was horrific and malicious,” he added, asserting that HBO acted with purpose rather than error. The wording suggested a dispute rooted not just in disagreement over content, but in alleged deliberate harm.
Simmons also challenged the network’s credibility and transparency, urging public scrutiny of how the documentary was produced. “You can’t hide,” he wrote, while encouraging people to “ask Oprah or anyone whose ever looked at the evidence.”
The reference to Oprah Winfrey, who withdrew from the project before it aired, appeared intended to reinforce Simmons’ argument that key information was omitted. With the post, Simmons signaled that his dispute with HBO remains unresolved and firmly in the public arena.