RUSSELL SIMMONS DEFENDS SARTIANO OVER RACISM CLAIM.

Hip-hop mogul RUSSELL SIMMONS has leaped to the defence of nightclub king SCOTT SARTIANO after former employees accused him of racism. Sartiano - who split from Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler in April (08) - is the subject of a new lawsuit filed by ex-cocktail waitresses at his New York hotspot 1Oak.The group of black and Asian women claim they were fired last month (Jul08) in favour of Caucasian employees.

In the suit, filed at Manhattan Federal Court, the girls allege the club's manager sacked them on an order from Sartiano, insisting: "What's the point of having girls if we can't f*** them?" But Simmons, a longtime pal of Sartiano, confirms the party king's statement that the women were fired as a result of poor performance at work. Simmons tells the New York Post: "I have been friends with Scott for a long time and have never known him to be racist in any way."

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