Kimora Lee Simmons Shares How She's Doing After Calling Out Ex Russell Simmons’ Alleged Abusive Behavior

Last month, Kimora and her daughter Aoki tearfully recounted Russell Simmons' behavior.

Kimora Lee Simmons is standing strong!

During an appearance at the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on Saturday, the fashion mogul gave an update on how she's been, following the public social media dispute between her, her oldest daughters Aoki and Ming Lee, and her ex-husband, Russell Simmons. 

"I'm OK," the former model said during a backstage interview via a video shared on the YBF's Instagram Story. "I'm always OK. I'm a tough chic, I'm a single mom of five kids, that's why I'm here because so many women are here. So much Black girl joy, brown girl joy. all the shades of joy. So it just feels good for me to be in a room like this."

Kimora added that it felt good to be in a space where she could represent fashion adding that "it's been like coming home." 

"Everybody's been like 'auntie Kimora, auntie's here," she said. 

Essence Festival marked her first public appearance since she publicly broke down in tears and she and her daughter  Aoki, took to Instagram to shed light on Russell Simmons' alleged abusive behavior. 

The family dispute began after Ming wished her mother a happy Father's Day, instead of her dad. 

The Def Jam founder seemed to respond when he shared an Instagram Story that appeared to be targeting his ex-wife, writing, "Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all."

In turn, Kimora took to Instagram Live where she tearfully recounted the alleged verbal attacks Russell waged against her and her daughters. 

Kimora claimed that Russell's gaslighting has been overlooked by fans and friends of theirs alike due to his "powerhouse" media mogul status. She accused Russell of being "abusive" to the women in his life. Kimora's allegations are particularly poignant as Russell has previously been accused of sexual misconduct by 18 women, all of which he's denied.

"Please don't attack my children, they've been through so much. Don't attack my family -- which is supposed to be your family too," Kimora said of Russell, choking up. "Don't do that because you're at rock bottom, I don't know, you're grasping at straws. This is a money grab? I don't really know what this is," she questioned. 

Aoki took to her respective Instagram Live where she tearfully explained the status of her relationship with her father. "This man is awful to me. He has done awful things to me and I'm so tired of it," she said through tears.

Aoki also took to Instagram to share several screenshots of text messages with her father where he calls Kimora a "piece of sh**" as well as a silenced video of him yelling at her via FaceTime. The model also penned a post where she shared that her father "is not well." 

The following day, Russell took to Instagram to publicly apologize to his daughters.

"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," the music executive wrote next to a picture of his daughters. "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 ❤️."

Russell seemingly addressed Aoki's social media post, in which she shared a video of him yelling at her over FaceTime to her Instagram page. "DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling," he added.

Kimora and Russell married in 1998 and divorced officially in 2009. The Baby Phat founder is also the mother of son, Kenzo, 14, who she shares with her ex, Djimon Hounsou, and son Wolfe, 8, whom she shares with Tim Leissner, and Gary, whom she adopted in 2020 when he was 10 years old.

RELATED CONTENT: 

 

Latest News