Renowned record executive and entrepreneur Russell Simmons stated that “there are two sides to every story” after his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, claimed that she has no relationship with her kids’ fathers.
Simmons, 68, and Kimora, 50, share two daughters: Ming Lee, 25, and Aoki Lee, 23. In a post on Threads, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings labeled allegations against Kimora in response to her claims.
“I gave u 50,000 a month for 20 years. I was ur best /only friend,” Simmons wrote. “I’m the godfather to your other 3 kids, until one day you stole my stock. I have been fighting for my kids love and my bread ever since.”
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Simmons also claimed that Kimora “threatened” that if he sued her, he “would never speak to my kids again.” He concluded his post by claiming that “there are two sides to every story.”
Besides Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, Kimora has a son, Kenzo, 16, with her ex-partner, Djimon Hounsou, while she shares a son Wolfe, 10, with Tim Leissner. Simmons is additionally a mother to an adopted son named Gary.
Simmons’ response to Kimora came after she told PEOPLE that though she and her kids’ fathers have no relationship, she’s thankful that she has a “village” of “friends and family and people my kids can rely on.”
“Usually I would say that I co-parent okay, but the kids are with me full-time,” she added. “I’m pretty much the primary parent. It’s difficult, but I don’t know sometimes what other people are thinking. Guys are weird.”
“Ming and Aoki are older, but I think they still feel very much like I’m ‘mom,’ and I think that’s okay,” the fashion designer and model continued. “For sure they can come to me. They live at home, they travel the world and they have a place in New York.”
Kimora additionally stated that her “life doesn’t ever revolve around a guy, ever.”
“I am thankful I’m able to be there for my family in ways that other people or parents are not,” she also stated. “If I wasn’t this person, I don’t know if we would’ve made it or if we would be okay. It’s been very important to me to be strong and self-reliant, and to constantly be growing.”
Kimora and Russell parted ways in 2006 after they tied the knot in 1998. The former couple ultimately finalized their divorce in 2009.
In June 2023, Kimora, in a post on her Instagram Stories, accused Simmons of “threatening” the lives of their kids.
“I’m so sorry to have to do this,” she wrote at the time. “But this man has been threatening my kids’ lives. I’m hearing so much more now. We won’t be bullied threatened or afraid.”
“Leave my kids alone,” Kimora added. “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 same abusive ish,” she added. “This is how you manouver [sic] with the women all around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation manouvers [sic] and tactics are sad. Stop it please. Your own flesh and blood? Enough is enough.”
READ ALSO: Kimora Lee Simmons talks about being a ‘surrogate mom’ to Diddy’s twin daughters
