Russell Simmons drama with daughters Ming Lee and Aoki Lee: what you need to know

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Russell Simmonsdrama with his two daughters, Min Lee Simmons And Aoki Lee Simmonsstarted a Father’s Day snub and turned into a social media brawl.

The family feud started in June 2023 after Ming Lee posted a tribute for her mother, Kimora Lee Simmons, on Father’s Day, subtly shading her father. (Kimora and Russell were married from 1998 to 2009 and welcomed Ming Lee and Aoki Lee in 2000 and 2002, respectively.)

After the diss, Russell took to Instagram to share a cryptic quote that suggested Kimora was the reason for his strained relationship with his two daughters.

“Stop telling dads they should have fought harder to see their kids and start asking moms why he had to fight in the first place,” the post read.

The next day, Aoki Lee responded to the Def Jam founder’s claims by releasing a series of heated text messages and video chats — which have since been deleted — with her father.

“My dad has not been well for years, he needs help and will not accept his refusal to acknowledge that he is not himself,” she captioned the now-deleted video. “He threatened and bullied my sister, my grandmother, he harassed my grandmother in the middle of the night while she was sick. [and sent] a man to my sister’s apartment at 2am to scare her. He lashes out at ANYONE who doesn’t say, “Ooh Russell, everything’s fine.” Well, it’s not good.”

Kimora, for her part, defended her daughters when Aoki Lee accused the entrepreneur of verbal abuse.

“Leave my kids alone,” she fired back via her Instagram story. “This story of attacking the single caregiver, the single parent in the house with the children, the mother AND the children for their own shortcomings and embarrassment is dead. Dead. Dead.”

The founder of Baby Phat continued to berate her ex-husband while subtly referring to his several sexual misconduct allegations that came to light in 2018. (Russell, for his part, has denied the claims.)

“The same offensive one. That’s how you maneuver [sic] with the world and women around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation maneuvers [sic] and tactics are sad. Please stop it. Your own flesh and blood? Enough is enough.”

After being summoned by his daughters and ex-wife, Russell took it up Instagram to publicly apologize to Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.

“God is testing you a little bit, it’s okay, be strong,” he wrote. “They are called growing pains…as you know, we grow through adversity and struggle…you read my books and hear me preach all your childhood…reach back to old lessons and don’t forget to remember ‘smile and breathe’ ❤️ ‘smile and breathe ‘ … you are the spectators of this world … so let go … be at ease … God sends and he works on you ❤️. I am deeply sorry for being frustrated and screaming… but know this… there are no conditions… I sure love you more than I love myself.

Keep scrolling to see a rundown of Russell’s drama with his daughters: