A Look At Russell Simmons' Damaged Relationship With His Daughters

Russell Simmons' relationship with his daughters — Aoki Lee Simmons and Ming Lee Simmons -– is much more toxic than we thought.

Russell Simmons and his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, used to get praised for their co-parenting relationship. Even though Russell and Kimora haven't been married since 2009 — and Kimora has gotten remarried — they sustained a mutual level of respect for the sake of their children. In 2020, Kimora detailed their co-parenting arrangement while under lockdown and had nothing but positive things to say about Russell. "I admired his kindness, his spirituality, he's a very deep-thinker, a very good person with a very big heart. He's a vegan," shared Kimora with Us Weekly. "I think just a little bit of those things have rubbed off on myself and the kids. I think it's for the better and all that makes things all the better. We're friends and he's very supportive. We get along and it's pretty easy."

Aoki and Ming Lee have also praised their father for his parenting skills. Over the years, the sisters have posted many sweet, heartfelt snapshots of Russell to social media — such as the time Aoki posted him wearing a face mask. "Lord give me the strength to accept the PEOPLE I cannot change," joked Aoki on Instagram. She included the hashtags, #ilovemyfather and #1dadintheworld. Unfortunately, Ming Lee's recent Father's Day post set off a chain of events that will forever change the way we look at their bond.

Recent comments from Kimora Lee Simmons and her daughters have people questioning Russell Simmons' parenting skills. The drama kicked off on Father's Day when Ming Lee honored her mom, Kimora, but didn't acknowledge Russell. Hours later, Russell posted a cryptic sign to his Instagram story. "Stop asking fathers to work harder to see their children and start asking mothers why the fathers had to fight at all," read the sign (via The Neighborhood Talk). Around this time, Aoki said, "I'm going to have to block him."

The next day, Kimora accused Russell of behind-the-scenes abuse and mistreatment. In the video obtained by The Shade Room, Kimora claimed, among other things, that Russell often pretended to be on good terms with her and their daughters on social media even though things were toxic in real life. Kimora also alleged that Russell stopped contributing to their daughters' expenses right before they graduated from college. "So, one day he just kinda cut the kids off," said Kimora. "I think he probably did that just to double up the expenses on me, which is no problem. I stepped up. I did it." Meanwhile, Aoki posted a video claiming that Russell sent people to sister Ming Lee's apartment "in the middle of the night to sign away her inheritance or whatever" (via The Shade Room).

In a since-deleted Instagram post, Aoki also claimed that Russell Simmons was dealing with mental health issues. "My father is not well, for years, he won't accept that and refuses to acknowledge that he is not himself," wrote Aoki (via The Shade Room). "He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma, he has harassed my grandma in the middle of the night in poor health, he has sent a man to my sisters apartment at 2am to scare her." 

According to Page Six, Ming Lee also released messages where her father seemingly blamed her for not backing him against her mother amid their legal battle over Celsius stocks. "I did not side with anyone over any legal business, he's been directly harmful TO ME," Aoki said (via Page Six), "He tries to get at my mom by hurting US."

Although Russell hasn't directly responded to his family's claims, he has posted since the drama unraveled. Next to an Instagram photo of Ming and Aoki, Russell posted an open letter, which read: "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 . . . .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."