Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons officially divorced in 2009. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/FilmMagic)
Kimora Lee Simmons has voiced her support for ex-husband Russell Simmons as more women come forward claiming he sexually assaulted them. The model on Thursday, Jan. 25 spoke to Backgrid about the accusations and kept her answers terse.
“I love him, we’re friends,” she said when initially asked by a paparazzo.
When asked if she thinks Simmons is innocent she responded, “Yeah, I do,” before saying the family is “OK” as they deal with the situation.
The question came up the same day Jennifer Jarosik, a filmmaker, became the latest of over a dozen women to accuse him of rape and/or sexual assault. NPR reported she filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking $5 million in damages for having sex with her in his Los Angles home in 2016 without her consent.
“Simmons got aggressive and pushed Plaintiff [Jarosik] on his bed,” documents said. “Plaintiff tried to force Defendant to stay away from her and in doing so, Defendant knocked Plaintiff off his bed, and Plaintiff hit her head and then Defendant pounced on her while she was still in shock and fear, and proceeded to rape her.”
Like the past allegations, Simmons, who previously launched — and halted – a #NotMe campaign to prove his innocence, denied Jarosik’s “horrific accusations.”
“What I will not accept is responsibility for what I have not done,” his statement said. “Although I have been candid about how I have lived in books and interviews detailing my flaws, I will relentlessly fight against any untruthful character assassination that paints me as a man of violence.”
Adding that he won’t “litigate this matter in the media,” he said, “I look forward to having my day in court — where, unlike the court of public opinion, I will have the ability to make use of fair processes that ensure that justice will be done and that the full truth will be known.”
And his ex-wife and co-parent is throwing her support behind him. In two screenshots posted to Instagram late Thursday, Lee Simmons said, in part, “these allegations against him are nothing like the person I have known in all that time. I have known him to be a caring and supportive father and someone who has worked tirelessly to uplift disenfranchised communities.”
