Celebrity News June 20, 2023
Kimora Lee & Her Daughters’ Explosive Family Feud with Russell Simmons: ‘Enough Is Enough’
Russell Simmons has been put on blast by his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons and their daughters Ming, 23, and Aoki, 20.
It seemed to start when Ming ignored her dad, instead wishing her mother a Happy Father’s Day on social media.
Russell then posted a picture of a sign that said, "Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.”
Aoki jumped into the mix, sharing texts and videos of her music mogul dad on her Instagram Stories.
One video appeared to show Simmons shouting over FaceTime. Aoki explained, "This is not someone who will accept help. This is just one screen recording sorry I don’t always remember to press 'record' when he calls my friends, my boyfriend, anyone, to get a chance to threaten and curse and go crazy."
She shared a string of text messages showing her father accusing Kimora of stealing “money and the love of my kids as she promised."
Aoki tells him, “You will never say that to me again. I’ll never speak to you until you DIE. Don’t ever say that again.” She tells him, “She DID NOT STEAL IT. You LOST IT… with your actions.”
In another long text she writes, in part, “Dad, I stopped talking to you because you were giving me panic attacks to the point I was placed on emergency medication every time we spoke. I cannot have a relationship with you until that stops. No one stops me from talking to you, my health does. I have to put that first.”
The recent Harvard grad also explained in a post, “My father is not well, for years, he needs help and won’t accept that. He refuses to acknowledge he is not himself. He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma, he has harassed my grandma in the middle of the night in poor health, send a man to my sisters apartment at 2 am to scare her. He lashed out at ANYONE who does not say ‘oh Russell everything is fine.’ Well it’s not fine.”
Aoki said there are also concerns that he might be suffering from mental illness.
"Some of us do think he's mentally ill or experiencing something like dementia," she wrote. "He really acts like he hates and does not know his children frequently."
She continued, "Prior to his media issues he was really the best dad ever and a great co parent. He and my mom were best friends. We all defended him against anything, and then he suddenly turned on ANYONE who will let him lash out. It's a really just a terrifying change to watch.”
Kimora wrote on Instagram Stories, "I'm so sorry to have to do this. But this man has been threatening my kids' lives. I'm hearing so much more now. We won't be bullied threatened or afraid."
She asked him to "leave my kids alone," adding, "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."
In her post, Kimora addressed his treatment of women.
"The same abusive ish," she wrote. "This is how you manouver with the women all around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation manouvers and tactics are sad. Stop it please. Your own flesh and blood? Enough is enough."
Afterward, Simmons posted an Instagram photo of his daughters with the caption, “God is testing you a little bit, it’s ok, be strong. . . they are called growing pains . . . as you know, we grow through adversity and struggle . . . you read my books and heard me preach your whole childhood . . . reach back to old lessons and remember to remember ‘smile and breathe’ ❤️ ‘smile and breathe’ . . . you are the watchers of this world . . . so let go . . . be at ease . . . God is driving and he is working on you ❤️.”
He added, “DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling . . . but know this . . . there are no conditions . . . for sure i love you guys more than i love myself.”
Russell and Kimora met in 1992 and wed in 1998. They announced their split in 2006 and she filed for divorce in 2008.