Russell Simmons’ daughters with ex-wife Kimora Lee Simons are ripping into him via social media.
The exes’ eldest, 23-year-old Ming, took to her Instagram Story Sunday to wish her mother a happy Father’s Day, which seemed to set Russell off.
Taking to his own Instagram Story, the Def Jam Recordings co-founder shared an image of a sign that read, “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.”
The next slide was a quote that stated, “The father you have is the perfect father for the evolution of your soul and the lessons that you needed to learn in this lifetime.”
On Monday, 20-year-old Aoki decided to share numerous screenshots of conversations she’s had with her dad, explaining that she’s “had enough” because he’s “been awful to [her] for years and that’s just the truth.”
In the messages, Russell accused Kimora, 48, of stealing his money and the love of his kids, to which Aoki replied, “I’m out here praying for you and hoping everything goes well. And you call my mother a piece of s–t. … Don’t ever say that again. She DID NOT STEAL IT. YOU LOST IT.”
Aoki also claimed that the music exec, 65, “hasn’t given [her] a dime in years” and even threatened to ruin her modeling career.
In a lengthier message, the recent Harvard University graduate told Russell she “stopped talking” to him because he was “giving [her] panic attacks to the point [she] was placed on emergency medication every time [they] spoke.”
She claimed he would “yell and scream about a legal situation” in which she is “NOT INVOLVED,” adding that “every phone call” with Russell was filled with “anger,” “rage,” “cursing” and “screaming.”
“I did not side with anyone over any legal business, he’s been directly harmful TO ME,” Aoki told her followers. “He tries to get at my mom by hurting US.”
She also posted a screen recording of a FaceTime call that was muted but showed her father shouting at her.
“It got to the point … I could not hear your voice without having an anxiety attack,” one of her messages to Russell read, which went on to say that although he is “being blocked for not respecting [her] boundaries,” she still loves him.
However, Aoki told her followers, “If I block him or [ask for] some space, he’d harass my boyfriend, my friends, literally college students. Children.”
Aoki said she’s “done everything [she] could since [she] was 15” to “be quiet and calm for the sake of the family that [she] love[s]” — but that she’s now at a total loss.
She added that she and her family “think he’s mentally ill or experiencing something like dementia,” calling it a “terrifying change to watch.”
Aoki described herself as a “daddy’s girl” who “defended him against anything” until he “suddenly turned.”
“Prior to his media issues he was really the best dad ever and a great co parent,” she said. “He and my mom were best friends.”
Kimora, for her part, re-posted one of Aoki’s messages to Russell and wrote above the screenshot, “No one should live like this. No one’s child. This is abuse. Not ok. The threats. Not ok. The fear mongering. Not ok.”
Reps for Russell did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
In March 2021, Russell sued Kimora and her husband, Tim Leissner, claiming they attempted to fraudulently transfer his nearly four million Celsius shares to their accounts to help pay for Leissner’s legal and bail fees stemming from a 2018 money laundering case.
At the time, Kimora’s lawyers denied the allegation and accused Russell of “extortive harassment.”
Russell and the Baby Phat designer were married from 1998 to 2009. She tied the knot with Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, in 2013.