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Ray Benzino has his hands full. Lyrical and verbal sparring with Eminem, a war against “The Machine,” and now sensational accusations from two former female Source employees claiming sexual harassment and discrimination - and all at once.

If history is any proof, Benzino isn’t one to back down from a challenge or confrontation. The past few days, it’s proven difficult to discern what’s what. The Source co-owner has resigned his executive post, reinstated himself and a number of matters have erected themselves over the past few business days. What's really going on? AllHipHop.com went straight to The Source.

AllHipHop.com: Well, first of all, I want you to clear up this whole thing that's going on with The Source—your resignation and everything. Tell us the real story.

Benzino: Okay, Friday morning, Dave got a call that L.A. Reid was pressured to lose his job if he didn't pull Def Jam's ads.

AllHipHop.com: Okay.

Benzino: Jimmy Iovine at Interscope, because of the whole beef going with us and Interscope and Jimmy Iovine. I felt that before another Black executive loses his job, one of the only ones up there, I felt that this was getting too much that I would step down, but you gotta understand, stepping down is a complicated thing with me because I co-own the magazine. So I would just have stepped away from it creatively, if I felt that but at the last minute Al Sharpton and Black Enterprise and Dave and the staff basically supported me just like they have me and said that no, they don't need—that I don't have to step down, that they would support me. And Rev. Al Sharpton called L.A. Reid and confirmed it that Jimmy Iovine did threaten to have him fired. That's crazy because Interscope has nothing to do with Def Jam – or at least shouldn't.

AllHipHop.com: And has Jimmy Iovine responded in any way to these accusations?

Benzino: Um, Jimmy Iovine doesn't talk too much. Jimmy Iovine just makes decisions and he's a very, you know, arrogant—they're very arrogant over there, as far as trying to fix things. But to me, it's more or less getting out of hand just like his lawsuit. He ended up suing us and after pulling out when everything was gonna come to light about Eminem lying about his age and about the tapes and everything, pulled out at the last minute three weeks before the trial.

AllHipHop.com Why did you publicly announce that you were leaving the magazine?

Benzino: Because I wanted everybody to know how—I wanted everybody, especially artists at Def Jam—what's going on up there, like how can Jimmy Iovine fire a Black man because he's putting in advertisement for artists. Those artists try and sell records just like 50 Cents and Eminem selling 70 percent of all records. What about Bleek? Source is still the number one magazine on the news stands—like they still need that.

AllHipHop.com: So did you intend on leaving?

Benzino: I definitely intended on stepping down from my post. I definitely did, yes I did.

AllHipHop.com: I think it's hard for some people not to see this as publicity or something.

Benzino: Oh no, but how can it be publicity when L.A. Reid was threatened to be fired? How can that be publicity, like that happened, so how is it publicity? That actually happened.

AllHipHop.com: I mean, for you to actually announce your resignation.

Benzino: Of course, because I wanted the world to know what is going on up there at Interscope.

AllHipHop.com: So why didn't you just announce that instead of saying that you were leaving?

Benzino: No because I was gonna leave. I was stepping down.

AllHipHop.com: Because of all that controversy?

Benzino: That's right.

AllHipHop.com: You also said that the ongoing Eminem lawsuit basically played a large role in your reason—

Benzino: No, no, no, not th

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