Russell Simmons received the worst Father’s Day gift of them all after he was blasted online by one of his daughters and his ex-wife.
Kimora Lee Simmons and their daughter Aoki proclaimed they are fed up with Russell and his manipulative ways, which they detailed in a series of posts on Instagram.
They accused the music executive of gaslighting and harassment and causing his 20-year-old to have panic attacks as a teenager. Kimora and Russell were married from 1998 to 2009.
It all began with the former couple’s older daughter, Ming Lee, 23, reportedly giving her mother a Father’s Day shoutout instead of her father. Apparently feeling left out, Russell shared a cryptic message implying that Kimora made it difficult to parent his children.
“Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children and start asking mothers why he had to fight at all,” read a sign he shared on his Instagram Story.
He shared another quote that stated, “The father you have is the perfect father for the evolution of your soul and the lessons that you needed to learn in this lifetime.”
Related: Kimora Lee Simmons Wins Bitter Court Case with Ex-Husband Russell Simmons, Who Now Owes Her $100K
In response, Kimora blasted her ex-husband in her Instagram Story on June 19, claiming, “This man has been threatening my kids’ lives.”
She continued, “I’m hearing so much more now. We won’t be bullied threatened or afraid. Who gaf?!”
“Leave my kids alone. 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.”
The 48-year-old former model went on to accuse Russell of being “abusive” to other women in his life.
“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? Enough is enough.”
The Phat Farm founder has previously been accused of rape and sexual misconduct by nearly two dozen women.
Kimora got emotional as she continued her rant on Instagram Live, where she revealed shocking accusations about Russell’s behavior and financial state.
First, she called him out for not attending either of their daughters’ recent college graduations. She said he had been blocked on her Instagram for a while but claims he has been making false posts to appear as if they are “friends.”
The single mom of five said her fifth child, Gary, was adopted from a family she and her ex Tim Leissner knew. She said it was a “personal adoption” and alleges that Gary’s biological father was an underpaid employee working under Russell, which seemingly supports her claims that he is not as rich as he may seem.
“None of that can be further from the truth,” Kimora said while crying. She alleges he told their kids in text messages, “I’m broke. I can’t, get it from your mom.”
The Baby Phat founder alleges she helped Russell several times, using her “many many many millions” to bail out his “unsuccessful” business ventures and stop his other companies from running into the ground.
“Nobody relies on him he’s flat broke and won’t even get me an Uber at night if I’m unsafe,” Aoki chimed in from the comment section, “he says ‘take the subway good luck.’”
Kimora claims Ming and Aoki have recently been “cut off” from their father. She also mentioned the lawsuit he brought against her and her Leissner, which she described as “frivolous.”
In November 2022, a judge ordered Russell to pay Kimora $100,000 for legal fees after she succeeded in getting a dismissal of a portion of his suit against her and Leissner in 2021 for allegedly “stealing stocks he had ownership of without his permission.”
Aoki also made a series of serious accusations against the hip-hop pioneer, alleging that her “father is not well” and he refuses to acknowledge that “he is not himself.”
The Harvard Law graduate continued in the since-deleted post, “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 2am to scare her. He lashes out at ANYONE who does not say “oh Russell everything is fine”. Well it’s not fine.”
She concluded by suggesting the 65-year-old industry vet threatened to hinder her burgeoning modeling career.
“If ‘I never get a fashion job again’ like he threatens, I’ll be a lawyer I guess and work in criminal Justice,” she wrote. “Sure I love my job but if he takes it away from me I won’t die. You don’t threaten my sister and grandma and mother and say ‘who’s gonna believe you I’m Russell Simmons nobody thinks I’m crazy’ well he is.”
Aoki believes Russell is “possessed” and says the change came out of nowhere for someone she was regularly close to and was a good co-parent. She maintained that her mom did invest in his business ventures but if she or her sister ever disagree with him he would say “F—k her” (Kimora).
She shared photos of screenshots of messages from WhatsApp that purportedly are between herself and her father, who accused Kimora of stealing his “money and the love of his kids as she promised.” She also shared a muted video from their Facetime call, which shows Russell yelling and screaming into the phone.
The young entertainer shared one text thread where ostensibly the entertainment mogul said, “literally broke.” It can be inferred from a few of the messages that her father’s erratic behavior gave her a “panic attack,” as noted. They also claim he reached out to Aoki’s boyfriend via text.
In video footage taken from her Instagram Live, Aoki accused Russell of saying ill things about her mother, her and her sisters, whom he referred to as “House of b——hes and “house of c-nts,” among other things.
“I have been dealing with this my whole life. This is not new. It’s not new drama,” she expressed. “I already live in the drama, so now I’m just sharing. There’s no therapy you can go to with someone who weaponizes the fact that you don’t want to go public.”
The runway model claims she’s currently living with a friend in New York because her father will not help her with rent. She said she has not received a graduation or birthday gift from Russell in years.
After hours of criticism and ridicule, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings chose to speak out to defend his character instead of remaining silent.
“God is testing you a little bit,” he began. “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 and to remember “smile and breathe” “smile and breathe” . . . you are the watchers of this world . . . so let go . . .”
“Be at ease,” Russell continued. “God is driving and he is working on you.” 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.”
Another father who faced backlash on Father’s Day was rapper Fabolous, who shared a photo of himself and the two sons he shares with fashion stylist Emily B. Fans questioned why he left out their youngest child, a daughter named Journey.
