Russell Simmons suffered a huge loss in court in the disgraced former music exec’s battle with his ex-wife Kimora Lee — only months before his daughters came forward to accuse him of verbal abuse and trying to force them to take sides in their parent’s fight, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Over the weekend, Kimora Lee and her daughter Aoki Lee Simmons spoke out against Russell on Instagram. The duo accused Russell of becoming erratic and berating his family members.
Aoki shared a video of Russell appearing to scream at her during a FaceTime call. She wrote, “he’s been awful to me for years.”
Kimora pleaded with her ex-husband, “Please don’t attack my children. They’ve been through so much. Please don’t attack my family, which is supposed to be your family, too.”
During an Instagram Live, Kimora said Russell seems to be “at rock bottom” and alluded to him needing money.
Aoki explained her father had become upset that she would not take a side in Russell’s lawsuit against Kimora and her current husband Tim Leissner.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, Russell sued his ex-wife and her investment banker spouse accusing them of stealing 4 million shares he owned in the energy drink Celsius without his permission.
He claimed the duo used the funds to pay for legal fees associated with Tim’s federal fraud case. Kimora’s husband eventually pleaded guilty in 2018 and was ordered to pay back $43.7 million as part of his sentence.
In his lawsuit, Russell’s lawyer wrote, “Knowing full well that [Tim] would need tens of millions of dollars to avoid jail time, stay out on bail and forfeit monies for victim compensation, [Tim and Kimora] engaged in this blatant fraud to achieve that nefarious and unlawful goal.”
In response, Kimora denied all allegations of fraud.
Her lawyer said, “at the time [Tim & Kimora] used the Celsius shares for purposes of the bond in connection with the federal case, [Kimora] understood and believed that [Tim & Kimora] were authorized to use the shares for the bond.”
in November 2022, Kimora was awarded $100k in legal fees as part of the ongoing case after defeating a breach of contract claim. The case is ongoing.
Russell and Kimora were married from 1998 till 2009.
