Kimora Lee Simmons dishes on feud with ex Russell at NYFW
Kimora Lee Simmons’ beef with ex-husband Russell Simmons is still simmering.
The supermodel and Baby Phat ceo — who sat front row at Phillip Lim’s New York Fashion Week show along with Tinashe, Awkwafina, P.J. Tucker, Teyana Taylor and Karen Pittman — told The Post’s Alexa team that she hasn’t “talked to him and won’t talk to him.”
The family feud first exploded on Father’s Day, when their daughter Ming Lee wished her mother a happy Father’s Day on Instagram. Simmons, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, responded with an Instagram Story seemingly aimed at Kimora.
“Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all,” he wrote.
The businesswoman fired back with an angry Instagram Story. “I’m so sorry to have to do this,” she wrote, “but this man has been threatening my kids’ lives.”
Their younger daughter, Aoki Lee, then posted a muted FaceTime video of her father appearing to scream at her. “This is not someone who will accept help,” wrote the 21-year-old Harvard graduate. “This is just one screen recording sorry I don’t always remember to press ‘record’ when he calls my friends, my boyfriend, anyone, to get a chance to threaten and curse and go crazy.”
The music exec ended up apologizing for his behavior on Instagram. “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,” he wrote to his daughters.
When asked backstage after Lim if the situation had improved, Simmons said, “No! I wouldn’t say that.”
“Just don’t abuse my kids,” exclaimed the proud mother of five. “Don’t be ignorant to them or disrespectful. It wasn’t a one-off thing, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, my bad,’ that type of argument that day. No, no, no, it’s an all-the-time thing. I’m not going to allow that. I’m not going to back down. My baby was worried, and she was crying, “I’m never going to work again’ because he said crazy stuff.’ I just don’t deal with him, and I don’t have time for negativity.”
Alexa reached out to Russell Simmons’ representative for comment, but didn’t hear back.
Spreading positivity, Simmons said that both Aoki and 23-year-old Ming help her with Baby Phat, and she’s launching an e-commerce platform for the brand this fall. The proud mother is also throwing a party for Aoki with Vogue this week, where a big announcement will be made.
“Life is good and they’re working. [Russell] is out of the country overseas, doing whatever. Go ahead and hide over there, whatever. People are weird.”