NEED TO KNOW
Kimora Lee Simmons tells PEOPLE she doesn’t “have a relationship really” with her kids’ fathers
Simmons shares two daughters with ex Russell Simmons, a son with ex Djimon Hounsou and a son with ex Tim Leissner
“Usually I would say that I co-parent okay, but the kids are with me full-time,” says Simmons, who also adopted son Gary in 2020 and has her “bonus son” Jayden
Kimora Lee Simmons is setting the record straight on where she stands with her exes.
The model-turned-fashion mogul and reality star, 50, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday, that she doesn’t “have a relationship really” with her kids’ fathers.
“Usually I would say that I co-parent okay, but the kids are with me full-time,” says Simmons. “I’m pretty much the primary parent. It’s difficult, but I don’t know sometimes what other people are thinking. Guys are weird.”
Simmons has daughters Ming Lee, 25, and Aoki Lee, 23, with her ex-husband, record executive Russell Simmons; son Kenzo Lee, 16, with actor Djimon Hounsou; and son Wolfe Lee, 10, with former investment banker Tim Leissner, who was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to bribery and money laundering charges.
Kimora Lee Simmons/Instagram
Kimora Lee Simmons with kids Jayden, Gary, Aoki, Kenzo and Wolfe
Simmons is also mom to son Gary Lee, 16, whom she adopted from Jamaica in 2020, and her “bonus son” Jayden, 19, who has lived with the family since he was in fourth grade.
Take PEOPLE with you! Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happen true crime stories and more — right to your mailbox.
Despite not being in touch with the kids’ fathers, Simmons credits her “village” of “friends and family and people my kids can rely on” for helping her through. Plus, she feels she was always made for motherhood.
“I’m always ‘the mom,’ ” Simmons tells PEOPLE. “I mother people all around me. When I hear people say to me, ‘I’ve come to you as a mom or best friend in my head,’ that’s what I live for.”
Kimora Lee Simmons/Instagram
Kimora Lee Simmons with kids Aoki, Kenzo, Wolfe, Gary and Ming
Now happily single, Simmons says her “life doesn’t ever revolve around a guy, ever.”
“I am thankful I’m able to be there for my family in ways that other people or parents are not,” she says. “If I wasn’t this person, I don’t know if we would’ve made it or if we would be okay. It’s been very important to me to be strong and self-reliant, and to constantly be growing.”
And no matter how old her kids get, they know they can always come home to her.
“Ming and Aoki are older, but I think they still feel very much like I’m ‘mom,’ and I think that’s okay,” she says. “For sure they can come to me. They live at home, they travel the world and they have a place in New York.”
After nearly 15 years, Simmons is back on reality TV in her new E! series Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane. It serves as a follow-up to her first show Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, which ran from 2007-2011.
“It’s like a chapter two of life,” she says. “I do think things go in a cycle — it’s not just cliché. I’m living it.”
Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on E!
For more on Simmons, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
Read the original article on People
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
