Kimora Lee Simmons says that she's doing "OK" after she and her two eldest daughters accused ex-husband Russell Simmons of abusive behavior. Kimora spoke about the situation while attending the Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans over the weekend.
“I’m always OK, I’m a tough chick. I’m a single mom of five kids,” she said in the interview. “That’s why I’m here because so many women are here. So much black girl joy, brown girl joy, all the shades of joy. So, it just feels good for me to be in a room like this.”
Kimora Lee Simmons With Russell Simmons
She also described attending the festival as feeling like “coming home.” “Everybody’s been like, ‘Auntie Kimora! Auntie’s here,'” she added. It marks her first public appearance since Father's Day, when Ming Lee Simmons and Aoki Lee Simmons both blasted Russell. In doing so, Aoki revealed that her father would “yell and scream about a legal situation” while adding that “every phone call” with her father was filled with “anger,” “rage,” “cursing” and “screaming.”
“Until a short time ago, this is the man who told me ‘always defend and look after your mother girls,’ and ‘never let a man curse at you,’ ‘you call Daddy if a man ever tries to yell [at] you or scare you,” she wrote of Russell on Instagram, adding that “real men don’t shout at women and girls.”
Kimora Lee Simmons At Essense Festival
Russell eventually publicly apologized for his behavior on his own Instagram page. “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. Seemingly addressing himself, he also followed up: "God is testing you a little bit, it’s ok, be strong.”
[Via]
