Russell Simmons will not stop bothering Kimora Lee Simmons

Nearly 20 years after their divorce, Kimora Lee Simmons has yet again found herself in the middle of an ugly public spectacle with her ex-husband, Russell Simmons. The latest activity comes after the premiere of her new show on E! called Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane. The show, as she characterizes it, is a “chapter two”, or follow-up to Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, which wrapped after four seasons in 2011, focusing on her experiences after the divorce. But even though it should be a celebratory time for the fashion mogul and entrepreneur due to her triumphant return to TV, her name has instead been drawn into some messy conversations. 

Last week in an exclusive interview, she spoke to PEOPLE about co-parenting with the fathers of her children, including Russell, actor Djimon Hounsou and former investment banker Tim Leissner. During the interview, Kimora candidly revealed she doesn’t ‘really’ have relationships with them.

"Usually I would say that I co-parent okay, but the kids are with me full-time," she told the outlet. "I'm pretty much the primary parent. It's difficult, but I don't know sometimes what other people are thinking. Guys are weird."

This remark appears to have agitated Russell, who took to Threads (odd platform choice but okay) to address this claim. Here’s what he had to say:

The reaction from Threads users was swift. People criticized his initial pursuit of her despite their massive age gap. They said that the money he might have been paying monthly was a ‘drop in the bucket’ for him and pointed out that the money was for the benefit of his children. And of course, people were quick to mention that he still has not returned to the United States and remains hidden away in Bali, protected from the likely extradition he'd face anywhere else amid damning allegations that have mounted over the years ranging from rape, harassment and sexual assault to defamation. But we’ll get back to that.

Russell’s response to Kimora prompted none other than radio host Funk Flex to come out of nowhere with a rumour that she had been intimately involved with rapper DaBaby. On his very first day filling the morning slot left vacant after former Hot 97 show Ebro in the Morning was taken off the air last Friday, which I wrote about here, Flex made what he now admits was a false claim. The rumour seemed to not only have sparked confusion among listeners who shared their doubts on social media, but confusion in DaBaby himself, who, within hours of Funk Flex being on air, shared this video vehemently denying Funk Flex’s statement and urging him to ‘clear that up’.

Later that day during his evening shift, Funk Flex offered up an apology. But interestingly, it wasn’t to Kimora. Instead, he apologized to DaBaby, admitting that he, a veteran radio host, and a very loud one at that, confused his rappers and misspoke.

“I apologize, my brother. I meant Birdman when I was talking about Kimora Lee. I'm not built for this morning show thing and I'm going to bow out later this week because it was such a small thing and wow. So when I was talking about the Kimora Lee thing, it was the Birdman, not DaBaby,” he said on air. NOTHING for Kimora for the damage and impact this claim might have had on her.

Now let’s get back to those allegations Russell is facing, which initially became public back in 2017, when model Keri Claussen Khalighi said he assaulted in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. She said it happened in 1991 when she was 17. Since then, it’s been alleged that from the 1980s through to the 2010s, Russell engaged inappropriately with at least 20 women. And according to a 2024 article in the Rolling Stone, his accusers are owed millions. That certainly pads the case for him retreating to Bali, where his recently acquired interests include 8 a.m. meditations and founding a wellness resort.

More recently in 2024, Drew Dixon, a former Def Jam recordings executive who previously accused Russell of sexual assault and harassment while she worked at the label in the 90s, alleged that in 2023, she became the subject of “public ridicule, contempt, and disgrace” after he called her “a liar in published statements with the malicious intent of discrediting and further damaging Ms. Dixon worldwide.”  

I think that speaks, at least in part, to the importance of connecting the dots between his response to the allegations of his accusers and his response to the claims made by Kimora. To be clear, there’s nothing defamatory about Kimora saying she doesn’t have a relationship with him or the other fathers of her children. But it appears that in both cases, whether being accused of not having a relationship with the mother of his children or sexual assault, his knee jerk response is to immediately discredit the women.

What did Russell think he would accomplish by pointing out that his adult children don’t speak to him? And furthermore, by blaming Kimora for the state of his relationship with them? All of this is a continuation of a very weak argument he made in 2023 after his eldest daughter Ming wished Kimora a happy Father’s Day. At the time, his response was to post an Instagram story that read: “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.” I wrote about his lack of accountability here.

We see men doing this all the time - discredit women when they feel like they’re under attack and put all of the blame on them. From attacking her parenting and making her out to be a thief to suggesting she’s the reason he’s estranged from his children to his claims that Drew is a liar – all of it serves as a dog whistle, mostly to other men who might come in and act in his defence. And sadly, it works.

This is one of the many ways men abuse their power. They gaslight women and discredit them as a means of getting people to look away from the actual issue at its core. A similar tactic was used by the current President of the United States when he suggested his accusers were not attractive enough for him to have made advances on. It turned the attention from whether or not he was in fact a predator to whether a woman might be attractive enough to sexually pursue. The undermining of claims, the gaslighting – and yet still, these men are equipped with a disturbing amount of power and wealth to use as they see fit. 

All of this also highlights the ways in which men uphold the poor behaviour of other men, specifically in cases where women are cast in the role of the common enemy. The fact that Funk Flex took it upon himself to make his morning radio debut about Kimora and start a baseless and truthless rumour is quite literally the definition of defamation. Any trained journalist will tell you that in order to rectify defamation, the apology must be as prominent as the initial defamatory claim was. But there was no apology to Kimora here. 

Time and time again we see men with money, wealth, power and fame weaponize their resources in ways women could never. Conversely, the women victimized in situations like these, mocked over their level of perceived attraction or potential sexual activity, serve as a  reminder to the rest of us that if they are not safe, not protected, not considered and not apologized to, what hope do the rest of us have if we ever find ourselves in these unfortunate situations?

The timing of all of this falls between the release of a documentary that showed us just how much power one person can wield, and cold, hard examples of how women who are career-driven mothers are at a higher risk of faring poorly in a divorce if their ambition is weaponized against them. And in Kimora’s case, accused of just being in it for the money, having lies spread about her and being blamed for a man’s horrible track record. 

Meanwhile, the men at the centre of all of these stories don’t get handed a strict enough prison sentence. They go on to become one of the most powerful politicians in the world. They get extra airtime on the radio. Or in Russell’s case, escape to the other side of the world to rebrand as a wellness practitioner while his accusers, ex-wife and children are left dealing with the fallout. You can’t make this stuff up. But most women already know that.