Fans are confused about the current status of Russell Simmons’ relationship with his two daughters after the record executive shared a heartwarming video with his oldest following their family’s public feud.
Simmons was blasted online with allegations that he caused his children years of emotional abuse after separating from their mother, Kimora Lee Simmons.
On Tuesday, Aug. 15, the Def Jam Recordings co-founder uploaded a five-second clip on his Instagram page that shows him laughing and his 23-year-old daughter, Ming Lee Simmons, laughing as she poked out her lips.
“When Times are tough smile and breathe keep your head up yogis Gods got you again like he had u last time,” his caption read.
From the looks of the filtered video, it appears to have been previously uploaded on Simmons’ IG page prior to Tuesday’s post.
He did not tag Ming in the post, and the NYU graduate did not like or comment on her father’s video.
His message was, however, reposted on The Shade Room’s Instagram account, where several commentators were left wondering if the successful entrepreneur mended his estranged relationship with Ming Lee and her 20-year-old sister, Aoki Lee Simmons.
“But didn’t Aoki say that the pics/videos that he posts are old and they have not seen him.”
“It’s probably an old video!! Master manipulator.”
“This has to be an old video, because the way she was talking to and about him, it makes you wonder if there’s a come back? I just think that they’re spoiled brats and when things doesn’t go their way then that’s when the tamper tantrums start.”
“Ming about to jump in the comments like ‘Aht Aht, this is from 2 years ago.’”
The family feud between Simmons, his daughters, and Kimora started back in June after a Father’s Day post quickly turned into an online spat. Kimora and Simmons were married from 1998 to 2009. On Father’s Day, Ming Lee apparently gave their mother a shoutout on the special holiday instead of her father.
Simmons then shared a cryptic message on his Instagram Story suggesting that his ex-wife of 11 years made parenting difficult for him.
His response caused Kimora to go on an extensive Instagram rant where she not only accused Simmons of “threatening” her children’s lives but also suggested that he’d been “abusive” to other women throughout his lifetime.
Simmons currently resides in Bali, Indonesia, where he moved after facing allegations of rape and sexual misconduct from several women.
During her emotional vent session, Kimora also claimed that Ming and Aoki had been “cut off” from their father, also claiming he isn’t as rich as he lets on to be.
Aoki decided to join in on the conversation by stating that her father “is not himself,” in a since-deleted post. She also accused him of bullying and harassing Ming as well as their grandmother. She also claimed that Simmons has threatened to halt her blossoming modeling career.
The Harvard graduate later shared purported text messages between herself and her father, as well as a video of him screaming during a FaceTime call. Aoki also alleged that Simmons caused her to experience “panic attacks” and had not gotten her a birthday or graduation gift in years due to being “broke.”
Ming appears to be in Los Angeles, according to the most recent post on her Instagram Story. However, neither she, Aoki, nor Kimora has commented on Simmons’ recent Instagram post.
