Russell Simmons and his daughter Aoki have been embroiled in a very public bust-up this week, and the music mogul has now issued an apology — as well as some advice to both of his children.
After the Def Jam co-founder took issue with his eldest daughter Ming wishing his ex-wife and children’s mother, Kimora Lee, a Happy Father’s Day on Instagram on Sunday (June 18), a family firestorm ensued, with both Kimora and his youngest daughter Aoki taking aim at him online.
On Monday night (June 19), Simmons took to Instagram to apologize to his kids, while also telling them he believes they are going through “growing pains” and that his advice would be to “smile and breathe” through the “adversity and struggle.”
“God is testing you a little bit, it’s ok, be strong. . . they are called growing pains,” he wrote alongside a photo of Ming and Aoki. “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.’”
He continued: “You are the watchers of this world . . . so let go . . . be at ease . . . God is driving and he is working on you [heart emoji]. 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.”
Check out Russell Simmons’ post below:
The family drama started early on Sunday morning when Simmons’ oldest, Ming, wished her mother Kimora a Happy Father’s Day on her Instagram Story. In turn, Simmons took to his story with a not-so-subtle message, posting a meme that read: “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children and start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.”
The following day, Kimora took to Instagram Live to air her ex-husband out. Among other things, the Baby Phat mogul said she’s had Simmons blocked for some time now, yet he still posts on social media as if they’re tight. Their youngest daughter Aoki then joined in, sharing not-so-nice messages from her father and even a muted video where he appeared to be manically raging at her on FaceTime.
According to Aoki, she and her family have exhausted all options trying to repair the relationship with the music mogul and they feel he may have a mental health issue.
“My father is not well, for years, he needs help and won’t accept that he refuses to acknowledge he is not himself,” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma, he has harassed my grandma in the middle of the night in poor health, send a man to my sisters apt at 2am to scare her.”
She continued: “He lashes out at ANYONE who does not say ‘oh Russell everything is fine.’ Well it’s not fine. If I ‘never get a fashion job again’ like he threatens, I’ll be a lawyer I guess and work in criminal justice. Sure I love my job but if he takes it away from me I won’t die. You don’t threaten my sister and grandma and mother and say ‘who’s gonna believe you I’m Russell Simmons nobody thinks I’m crazy’ well he is.”
Russell Simmons has kept a relatively low profile as of late since sexual assault accusations levied against him came to light in 2020.
The music mogul’s sexual assault accuser Drew Dixon shared her story on the controversial HBO Max documentary On The Record, along with a handful of other women with similar accusations against him.
Simmons has denied the allegations and reportedly provided Oprah Winfrey with over two dozen people who could corroborate his story of innocence as she worked on the documentary — although she later pulled out before the film aired.
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