DMX warming Aaliyah’s arms up while she sat between his legs on a music video set enraged his then wife Tashera Simmons, the rapper revealed in his final ever TV interview. The behind-the-scenes story was shared on An Uncensored Special: DMX The Icon, which aired on TV One on May 17.
During the show both DMX and his ex-wife shared their version of what happened when the hip-hop star shot the “Come Back In One Piece” music video with Aaliyah. The song was released in 2000, a year before the R&B singer’s tragic death.
“So, we’re shooting the video. I was married at the time so I brought my wife and my dog to the video set,” DMX, 50, said. “And wifey’s holding the dog way over there and, as the scene went on, I’m sitting on the top of the bench and [Aaliyah’s] sitting in between my legs. She had on a T-shirt. At least I had on a jean jacket. So, in between takes, I was like warming her arms up.”
DMX demonstrated what he meant by mimicking how he used his hands to rub up and down Aaliyah’s bare arms. Tashera continued the story and it’s clear that she wasn’t impressed by the chemistry she witnessed between her husband and the “Try Again” singer.
“Sometimes you’re just trying to warm a friend up but it was just a little bit too cozy,” the mother to four of DMX’s children said. “We had this connection that was just insane. Like he would feel my energy. And…I had that dog and I really just wanted to let it go, to be honest with you.”
DMX agreed that he could tell his wife was mad but it didn’t stop him. He carried on regardless. “And I just felt the stare coming from wifey over there,” he said. “I just glimpsed and I just said, ‘You know what, I’ll deal with that later. Come on girl.’”
Despite her fury, Tashera managed to keep the peace. “In my head I’m like, no this n****a ain’t sitting here on set like he ain’t got a damn wife. And, when I tell you I just stood there and I was looking and the next thing you know I see him look over at me. And he looked over at me with this look… And he just turned back around.
“I felt like ripping up the whole set that day… But I had to keep it together because I had to be the wife and woman of class. But I wanted to beat the living hell out of him that day I’ll be honest with you. And Aaliyah. Excuse me, I’m sorry Aaliyah. I’m like, she know better. She know he got a wife. I was over it. That was a time, yeah. I’ll never forget that.”
The incident didn’t end the Simmons’ marriage. That came when they divorced in 2014. Sadly Aaliyah died in a tragic plane crash in August 2001. She was just 22-years-old.
DMX, who also co-starred with her in the 2000 movie Romeo Must Die, admitted that he was shocked when he was told of her sudden death. “When I found out about the crash…I just couldn’t accept it,” he said. “I was like, no. Somebody would have told me.”
“That was a rough situation,” he added. “Like, damn. Really? Why her? You never know when God’s gonna call the angels home.”
An Uncensored Special: DMX The Icon included an interview that the rapper gave to TV One as part of their Uncensored series. The Uncensored DMX episode premiered on May 16 and will re-air on the network on May 22 at 11am ET.