- Russell Simmons is a pioneering file govt, identified for co-founding the enduring label Def Jam.
- He was married to mannequin Kimora Lee Perkins from 1998 to 2009.
- The previous couple shares two grownup daughters: Aoki and Ming.
Russell Simmons has been one of many largest names in hip hop, with out being a rapper himself. After starting his profession as a producer, he later teamed up with Rick Rubin to co-found the enduring label Def Jam Recordings, which has been the house to tons of main artists like Jay Z, the Beastie Boys, DMX, and lots of extra. He’s additionally been a significant determine within the trend world. Whereas he’s had an simple influence on the historical past of rap, Russell was accused of sexual assault and harassment by a number of ladies in 2017 and finally stepped down from his place at Def Jam. Russell, 65, has denied the allegations.
Russell married mannequin Kimora Lee, 48, in December 1998. The pair had two daughters Aoki, 20, and Ming, 23, however the pair cut up up in 2006, and their divorce was finalized a couple of years later. For the reason that cut up, Russell has had a strained relationship with each his ex-wife and his daughters. Kimora accused him of “threatening” her and the children in addition to being “abusive” in her Instagram Story on June 18, 2023, per Individuals. “This man has been threatening my youngsters’ lives. I’m listening to a lot extra now. We received’t be bullied threatened or afraid,” she wrote. “This narrative of attacking the one caregiver, the one father or mother within the dwelling with the children, the mother, AND the children for one’s personal shortcomings and embarrassments is useless.”
Kimora hasn’t been the one one to accuse the previous file govt of appearing inappropriately. Aoki shared screenshots of textual content exchanges along with her dad and stated that if she doesn’t reply, he’ll “harass” her boyfriend or faculty buddies. “I’ve had sufficient,” she wrote in an Instagram Story. “He’s been terrible to me for years and that’s simply the reality.”
Discover out extra about Russell’s daughter right here.
Ming Lee Simmons
Russell and Kimora welcomed their elder daughter Ming in 2000. The older Simmons daughter was a scholar at New York College, graduating in 2023. She’s dabbled in modeling and being a social media character, typically sharing vlog-style movies on TikTok and posting beautiful pictures of herself on Instagram.
Ming has opened up about how her mother was a significant affect in displaying her how vital laborious work is in a 2023 interview with Hypebae. “It’s going to sound cliche, however my mother actually does preserve me grounded. She’s all the time hammered the worth of a greenback into all of us and he or she’s achieved a tremendous job of supporting us whereas additionally doing her greatest to make us conscious of our privilege,” she stated. “I do know that I have to work laborious and show myself to have the ability to stand by myself.”
Amid the drama along with her dad in 2023, Ming additionally dissed her dad with a Father’s Day Put up, the place she shared a photograph of herself and her mother, primarily wishing Kimora a “Completely satisfied Father’s Day,” on her Instagram Story, per TMZ.
Aoki Lee Simmons
Kimora gave start to her and Russell’s youthful daughter Aoki in 2002. Like her mother, Aoki can be a mannequin, however she’s additionally a graduate of Harvard College, having graduated as a part of the Class of 2023. After graduating, Aoki additionally thanked her mother and sisters for supporting her in an interview with Individuals. “I really feel grateful, proud and relieved — in that order! It’s a surreal feeling to be achieved with one thing that was such an enormous a part of my life. Now, like each different graduate, I’m on to the following chapter,” she stated. “My mother, my sister, my little brothers again at dwelling. It took an entire tribe, belief me!”
Apart from being a scholar at Harvard, Aoki additionally made her New York Trend Week debut whereas she was engaged on her diploma, per HuffPost. She’s repped by Nomad Administration, as her Instagram bio states.
Whereas she’s clearly had some difficulties along with her dad, as evidenced within the Father’s Day 2023 posts, she did have form phrases to say about him in a 2023 HuffPost interview. “I dwell with my mother. My dad is sort of a enjoyable uncle. My mother is my mother. That’s my individual. She’s not letting me fall, or mess up,” she stated.
Weeks after that interview although was the fallout on her Instagram Tales, the place she additionally shared a video of Russell seeming to yell at her on a FaceTime name. In one other Story, she wrote that some individuals near her dad thought that he was “mentally ailing or experiencing one thing like dementia,” and he or she stated that previous to the argument, she had a great relationship with him. “He was actually the very best dad ever and an important co father or mother. He and my mother have been greatest buddies. All of us defended him towards something, after which he all of a sudden turned on ANYONE who will let him lash out,” she stated.
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