Rap mogul Russell Simmons has been ordered to respond to rape allegations after his request to dismiss a lawsuit against him was denied.

Earlier this year (18), Simmons was hit by a $10 million (£7.8 million) lawsuit by a woman, who filed under the name Jane Doe, over an alleged rape in 1988 that took place in an hotel room after she attended a concert with her son.

In August (18), the star demanded $35,000 (£27,400) from the woman and last month (Nov18) he requested the charges be dismissed entirely, with his legal representative calling them "nothing more than an attempt by Jane Doe to extort large sums of money from Mr. Simmons and for her lawyer to try to make a name for himself."

According to The Blast, Simmons' request has been denied and he has been given 20 days to respond to the allegations. The parties are due back in court next month (Jan19).

Simmons has been embroiled in several other sex assault scandals over the last year (17) - at least a dozen women have accused him of misconduct. In July, the New York Times detailed accounts from a string of accusers, including a woman named Alexia Norton Jones, who claimed the rap mogul attacked her at his apartment after a date, screenwriter Jenny Lumet, model Keri Claussen and others, who described incidents of lewd behaviour dating back to the early 1990s.

Last November (17), he announced he was stepping down as the head of several media ventures in the wake of the accusations.