Russell Simmons has seemingly attempted to extend an olive branch to his daughter Ming amid their family feud.
Taking to Instagram on Monday (August 14), the former music mogul shared what commenters are calling an old video of himself and Ming in happier times.
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“When Times are tough smile and breathe keep your head up yogis,” he captioned the clip. “Gods got you again like he had u last time.”
You can view the post below.
The Def Jam co-founder had a huge online blowout with his daughters and ex-wife Kimora Lee on Father’s Day in June. After he took issue with his eldest daughter Ming wishing Kimora a Happy Father’s Day on Instagram, a family firestorm ensued.
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.
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“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.”
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Russell Simmons has kept a relatively low profile 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.
