Russell Simmons has finally spoken out after his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, and their daughters, 23-year-old Ming Lee and 20-year-old Aoki Simmons, accused him of “threatening” behavior. On late Monday evening, June 19, the 65-year-old record executive took to Instagram and seemingly responded to the family drama by posting a video of his daughters with a message that had him apologizing for “being frustrated and yelling”. While Russell didn’t name his daughters in his caption, or say who he was apologizing to, his message came after Ming shared a video of him earlier in the day — one that showed Russell doing just what he was apologizing for.
“God is testing you a little bit, 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 to old lessons and remember to remember ‘smile and breathe’ [heart emoji] ‘smile and breathe’ … you are the watchers of this world … so let go … be at ease … God is driving and he is working on you [heart emoji],” he wrote.
“DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling …,” he added, before concluding, “but know this … there are no conditions … for sure i love you guys more than i love myself.”
In case you haven’t been following, Russell’s family drama started on Father’s Day, June 18, when Ming wished her mom, Kimora, a Happy Father’s Day on her Instagram stories. Russell seemingly responded to the snub by posting the following message on his Instagram page: “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.”
Kimora, 48, then got involved by going on Instagram Live and talking about her and her daughters’ relationship with Russell. In the video obtained by TMZ, she claimed that she and her daughters haven’t stayed in touch with Russell. We “haven’t spoken” to him in “many many many months probably going on years,” she said, before further admitting that she’s had him blocked on social media for “a very long time, but yet [he] continues to post messages like we’re friends.” In her “opinion”, she said her ex-husband is “delusional” and “living some kind of lie.”
But it didn’t stop there. Russell’s daughter Aoki then went on her own Instagram Stories and shared What’s App text messages that were allegedly sent to her by Russell. Aoki wrote, “I’ve had enough. I know that I may lose jobs or whatever I don’t even know. I was always a daddy’s girl you can see that in any picture. But he’s been awful to me for years and that’s just the truth.” She also shared a since-deleted video (with no sound) on her grid that appeared to show Russell yelling over FaceTime. She also accused Russell of threatening and harassing her and her family.
Kimora finally begged Russell to “leave my kids alone” and to stop “attacking” her on social media.