Aoki Lee Simmons’ exiled and estranged hip-hop mogul father Russell Simmons is remaining firmly “blamed” for her “insane” romance with a male 43 several years her senior.
In photos that shocked the world, Aoki, 21, and restaurateur Vittorio Assaf, 65, have been found packing on the PDA during a journey to St. Barts.
The pair was noticed on Tuesday, April 2, kissing on a beautiful seashore in the Caribbean, in accordance to pictures acquired by Web site Six. The Serafina co-owner then took shots of the model as she posed in the sand prior to they took a dip in the ocean jointly.
A source verified their romantic relationship to Individuals on Friday, April 5, expressing they are “enjoying every single others’ company.”
Aoki is the youngest daughter of new music legend Russell, 66, and model and mogul, Kimora Lee Simmons, 48. Assaf, for his part, hails from Milan, Italy, and has been a staple in the New York restaurant environment given that confounding Serafina Restaurant Team.
After visuals of their PDA emerged, there was flurry of outrage from admirers and even her mother Kimora seemingly showed her disapproval of the union by reposting a considering the fact that-deleted movie of a mother panda furiously pulling absent her little one cub with her tooth and wrote: “On my final nerve right now!”
Aoki Lee, Vittorio Assaf and Russell Simmons Distribute Photographs/MEGA / Bennett Raglin/WireImage
Nonetheless, Kimora’s embattled ex-partner, Russell, whom she was married to from 1998 to 2009, had a decidedly different reaction sharing a throwback snap of Aoki from June 2022 along with a heartfelt concept about his “unconditional love” for her.
He recalled that they experienced an “all-about wonderful day” past Father’s Day, the working day before a now notorious viral movie displaying him berating his daughter and bringing her to tears in the course of a FaceTime phone.
But while the new music legend threw help at the rear of his baby, and has continued to do so with additional Instagram posts about the weekend, it has only served to set him beneath hearth.
Aoki Lee Simmons, 21, ‘loved up’ with Vittorio Assaf, 65, Unfold Shots/MEGA
The entrepreneur, who has been in self-imposed exile in Bali for the past number of several years adhering to a barrage of historical sexual assault allegations made towards him, has boasted about dating a string of females his daughter’s age as an older man and in accordance to ex Kimora Lee started out dated her when she was a teenager in the sector.
His gushing posts about Aoki have for that reason been satisfied with condemnation from followers who have branded him an “enabler” and a “deadbeat dad” who caused Aoki Lee’s “daddy issues”.
“This is your fault Russell. You should not be enabling this. The male is your age and you see practically nothing mistaken!” claimed 1 follower in his feedback portion. One more wrote: “You’re to blame for this insane s-t.
“You ran away to Bali after getting accused of misconduct and remaining your daughter at a vital age when she requires guidance and now are putting up pics of her. You and Aoki really do not even converse.”
A 3rd wrote: “These are textbook daddy challenges for Aoki. I remember you designed that very poor female cry and then you doubled down immediately after it was manufactured general public. She’s got an additional daddy now. Stand back again!”
Although a fourth included: “You should really be outraged about this. Not submitting sweet pictures like you approve. She’s a grown girl indeed, but this is blatantly a cry for enable and her searching for an more mature male to guideline her simply because you are not in her lifetime.”
Aoki’s household designed headlines in June, 2023 when her more mature sister, Ming Lee Simmons, Russell and Kimora’s other daughter, shared a Father’s Day tribute to Kimora, devoid of addressing Russell.
Russell subsequently took to Instagram, seemingly alleging that Kimora interfered in his romantic relationship with his children. “Stop telling fathers they should really have fought more difficult to see their small children and start asking moms why he had to combat at all,” browse a estimate he shared at the time.
Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee with Ming (L) and Aoki (R) in 2005 Shane Gritzinger/FilmMagic
Aoki later on chimed in, publicly refuting Russell’s claims. “My father is not nicely, for several years, he requirements assist and will not take that he refuses to accept he is not himself,” she wrote in a due to the fact-deleted Instagram take note, submitting screenshots of their past texts.
“He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma… He lashes out at Any person who does not say, ‘Ooh Russell all the things is high-quality.’ Very well it’s not great.”
Aoki even accused her father of verbal abuse, which Russell has denied. Kimora, for her component, fervently supported her daughter speaking out by way of her Instagram Story. Final September Aoki explained she felt happy of how she taken care of her notorious community drama with her father earlier that year.
“I never regret it,” she explained to Teen Vogue at the time referring to her selection to simply call out her father on the net. “Part of it was previously out there. There had been motives I considered it was affordable to publish due to the fact it was playing out in, like, a silent bubble.”
Russell issued a general public apology to both equally Aoki and Ming, 23, later that month. “God is screening you a minor little bit, it’s Alright, be strong,” he wrote by way of Instagram. “They are known as growing pains … as you know, we improve as a result of adversity and struggle … you study my books and listened to me preach your entire childhood … attain back to aged lessons and bear in mind to remember ‘smile and breathe’ ❤️ ‘smile and breathe’ … you are the watchers of this globe … so enable go … be at ease…”
Aoki also told Teen Vogue that she has learned to cope with not staying near to her father. “[A celebrity I recently met was] like, ‘Oh, I noticed your matter. I did the similar point when I was, like, 20, and it was great.’”
She insisted hers is a “normal family” inspite of their public drama, but declined to comment on the a number of sexual misconduct statements produced in opposition to her father, which he has also denied. Russell was accused of assault by 18 women of all ages in 2018.
