Kimora Lee Simmons and her daughter with Russell Simmons, Aoki Lee, are blasting the Def Jam co-founder for what they call years of abuse that has become worse in recent years.
On Monday, Kimora shared several posts and went live where she became emotional and tearfully explained that Simmons has been manipulative and spiteful towards his children and has been allegedly lying about what he does for his children.
Kimora married Russell Simmons in December 1998 and divorced in 2009. The two share daughters, Aoki Lee, 20, and Ming Lee Simmons, 23. Aoki Lee graduated from Harvard University, while Ming graduated from NYU last month.
Ming Lee wished her mother a happy Father’s Day on Sunday, and it seems that this set off Russell Simmons, who Kimora and her daughters say has been harassing, threatening them, and being abusive for years.
In a series of posts, Kimora called him out for threatening his daughters after the post by Ming Lee.
“I’m so sorry to have to do this,” she wrote in an Instagram story. “But this man has been threatening my kids’ lives. I’m hearing so much more now. We won’t be bullied threatened or afraid….Leave my kids alone.”
Another Story said, “This narrative of attacking the only caregiver, the only parent in the home with the kids, the mom, AND the kids for one’s own shortcomings and embarrassments is dead. Dead. Dead.”
According to Kimora, Russell is broke, and she has been taking care of his bills and expenses for years.
According to her, Simmons still managed to contribute around $500 a month to the girl’s monthly expenses, but months ago, while the children were preparing for their final exams, he cut them off financially.
“The breaking point for all of this was over the past many months when their dad just sort of cut them off. He was contributing a little bit of cash to their monthly college spending, Not much, like a couple of hundred dollars maybe about $500,” Kimora said.
According to her, Russell has not been in his children’s lives, but he has been pretending on the internet that he has money and has been funding their lifestyle.
“One day he just kind of cut the kids off. There was no more money coming in, no more allowance. I think that he did that to double up the expenses on me which is no problem, I stepped up and I did it. It was months ago, just before graduation,” she said, adding that he did it after an interview with Akademiks.
Kimora also says that while on the show, Russell boasted about being rich and having a lot of money as an old head in hip hop, but Kimora says
“He was saying to the guy I am so rich…none of that could be further from the truth… Meanwhile, I’ve been financially carrying this person probably for the last at least 10 years- myself and my ex-husband. Again, this is all proven with receipts…but I’ve taken care of this person to the tune of many many many millions of dollars to help with their bills, their overheads, their companies that they run into the ground, their unsuccessful bids, all of their stuff,” she said.
Kimora also said that Russell was upset that his daughters went to college instead of saving the money.
Kimora and Russell divorced in 2009, but she says his relationship with his children began deteriorating in recent years. She also says he has been pretending that she sends him flowers and denies that the children were brainwashed.
“I’m just asking that you please leave us alone,” she said.
Aoki Lee also went on Instagram Live, where she said her father “taunts and bullies” them every day.
According to her, her father has been threatening her and her sister and has been attempting to blackball her in the modeling industry.
She called out her father for her behavior in recent times.
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“I was responding to a comment saying ‘Oh but he gives you so much’ He doesn’t and that’s ok. But you should get the full story before making light of this. He is mentally unwell and has been bullying and abusing my sister, my grandmother who is in poor health, he sent someone to my sister’s house in the middle of the night to scare her, he called my grandmother IN THE HOSPITAL worsening her heart issues, he harasses everyone I know if I don’t answer and let him yell at me. FOR YEARS. Go back and look at what I said. It’s not a problem he doesn’t give me any money, it’s a problem that he needs help for years and won’t take it. It’s a problem that he hurts others. And turns on everyone he knows,” she wrote in comments on Instagram.
Despite Aoki’s explanation for why she wants nothing to do with her father and Ming Lee recognizing her mother for playing a fatherly role in her life, Russell appeared upset at Kimora, whom he blasted for keeping him from his children.
“Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all,” an Instagram Story read.
In a post on Monday afternoon, Simmons wrote, “God is testing you a little bit, it’s ok,be strong, they are called growing pain as you know. We grow through adversity and struggle…I love you guys more than I love myself,” he wrote.
Aoki Lee Simmons also posted videos she recorded of her father, who she said calls her, her friends, her boyfriend, and others to “threaten and curse and go crazy.”
It seems that Russell’s and Kimora’s relationship became fraught with problems after he sued her and her ex-husband for allegedly attempting to sell off almost 4 million Celcius stocks to help pay bail and legal fees for her ex-husband Tim Leissner. Leissner was charged with money laundering in 2018.
In court documents, Simmons asserted he owned 50% of the Celcius shares, which Lee went behind his back and used as bail to secure Leissner’s release. Leissner had pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit money laundering from Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB, and to avoid jail; he agreed to pay $44 million.
Kimora’s lawyers, however, said Russell was attempting to extort them and that the shares and dividends of Celcius “Kimora and Leissner invested millions of dollars” and that Russell was attempting to “use the legal system to access funds he is in no way entitled to, and which his own legal team confirms Russell did not pay for.”
Simmons had also brought a breach of contract claim against Lee, but the court had dismissed the case finding that Lee owed Simmons no duty of care as he had resigned as manager of the company a year before. He also had to pay her $100,000 in legal fees. It’s unclear if the substantive case is still ongoing.