“I love him. We’re friends,” Kimora Lee Simmons, 42, said when discussing her ex-husband, Russell Simmons, 60, with some Backgrid paparazzi on Jan. 25, per The Shade Room. The fashion designer and entrepreneur was out with her son, Wolfe Lee Leissner, 2, and took a moment to defend her ex, as he’s been accused of rape and sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women. When asked if she thought that Russell was innocent, Kimora nodded her head and said, “Yeah, I do.”
Though she didn’t say a lot, seeing Kimora stick by Russell is pretty big. These two first met during New York City’s Fashion Week in November 1992, according to PEOPLE. Kimora was 17 at the time, about to finish high school. Russell was 35. They were wed in 1998 in a ceremony officiated by Joey “Reverend Run” Simmons of Run DMC (who’s an ordained Pentecostal minister.) Russell and Kimora have two girls together: Ming Lee Simmons, 18, and Aoki Lee Simmons, 15. They separated in March 2006, and finalized their divorce nearly three years later in 2009.
“Trust became a real issue in their relationship,” a close friend of Kimora’s EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife.com in the wake of Russell’s growing list of accusers, “and when she began to question his integrity, it was the beginning of the end of their relationship.” The insider said that it hurts Kimora “to think that Russell may have been harassing other women while they were still married,” and that these allegations have made her glad the made the “tough decisions” to leave him years ago.
Two more women came forth on Jan. 9 to accuse Russell of rape, making a total of 14 women pointing the finger at the hip-hop icon. One woman, named Sherri Hines, accuses Russell of allegedly raping her in his officer in 1983, while another, who decided to remain anonymous, said he allegedly sexually assaulted her in his Manhattan home in 1991. Kelly Cutrone, a popular publicist, has also publicly claimed Russell allegedly attempted to rape her when she was 26. It seems that Russell’s legacy may be forever tarnished after all these allegations, but perhaps he’ll find some solace knowing his ex-wife didn’t think he did it.
What do you think about Kimora’s comments on Russell, HollywoodLifers?