World News
Kimora Lee Simmons and daughter accuse Russell Simmons of abuse
Russell Simmons has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women, but over Father’s Day weekend his woes seemed to worsen when his ex-wife and daughter took to social media to accuse him of verbal abuse and air the family’s strife.
Kimora Lee Simmons recently shared a series of Instagram stories detailing his alleged abuse.
“No one should live like this. No one’s child. This is abuse,” Lee Simmons wrote on her Instagram story, paired with a screenshot of text messages their daughter Aoki sent her father: “You were putting so much anger and rage on me every phone call. Cursing screaming and God knows what else,” one of the texts read.
Lee Simmons added on another slide: “This is how you (maneuver) with the world and women all around you. Your threats and lies and intimidation (maneuvers) and tactics are sad. Stop it please.” The exes have been embroiled in lawsuits as well. (USA TODAY has reached out to Simmons for comment; he wrote he was “DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling” in a subsequent Instagram post.)
The Simmons family’s battle is unusually public, but they aren’t alone. Following the rise of the #MeToo movement and a societal shift regarding the importance placed on consent, many people have dealt with someone they know, socialize with or even love being accused of inappropriate behavior. Experts say abuse allegations can tear a family apart, but the key is to avoid engaging with someone who acts this way once their world is upended – regardless of the reason.
“Family and friends of those accused are also impacted by allegations, charges and convictions for sexual violence,” says Elizabeth L. Jeglic, a psychology professor at John Jay College, City University of New York. “Someone they loved and cared for has been accused of a very serious crime.”
The allegations against Simmons were the subject of a 2020 HBO documentary “On the Record.”
“On the Record” follows one of Simmons’ accusers, ex-Def Jam executive Drew Dixon in late 2017 as she makes the difficult choice to come forward with sexual misconduct allegations in The New York Times. In the Times story, she alleges that Simmons, her then-boss at Def Jam Recordings, raped her in his Manhattan apartment in 1995 when she was 24.
Simmons stepped down from his businesses in 2017, following this and more allegations, and relocated to Bali, Indonesia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S. (The allegations also fall outside the seven-year statute of limitations for sexual assault in New York state, meaning prosecutors cannot pursue criminal charges.)
“While few allegations of sexual abuse result in criminal conviction of the perpetrator, for those who are in the public eye, these allegations impact the way that they are viewed by the public and their families,” says Jeglic.
