Kimora Lee Simmons is talking candidly about her daughter Aoki Lee Simmons’ former romance with a person 44 years her senior.
Showing on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast this week, the Child Phat founder and actuality TV character was requested how she first reacted upon studying Aoki Lee Simmons, then 21, had begun relationship 65-year-old restaurateur Vittorio Assaf almost two years in the past.
At first, Kimora Lee Simmons appeared shocked when host Amanda Hirsch described the connection as “a big deal for pop culture,” however famous, “I let my kids make their own mistakes.”
“First of all, I know this guy. But I didn’t know this guy in that capacity like with my kid or that you were even dating my kid,” she defined in a clip from the podcast, per Folks. “I know this guy growing up myself. He’s a restaurateur. I don’t want to get into troubles legally, but I think his reputation probably precedes him. Is that OK to say legally? So I was learning some of these things as I went along, too.”
Assaf, who’s the co-founder of New York’s Serafina Restaurant Group, and Aoki Lee Simmons have been first romantically linked in April 2024 when the 2 have been noticed collectively in St. Barths.
Although Aoki Lee Simmons is knowledgeable mannequin who has appeared in Vogue and different retailers, her romantic companions previous to Assaf weren’t public figures. Assaf, nonetheless, had beforehand dated mannequin Nya Gatbel, who was 22 on the time.
Although Assaf and Simmons’ romance drew heavy media scrutiny, it was additionally short-lived, with the 2 reportedly going their separate methods lower than a month after their Caribbean getaway.
“It blew up to be so much, so then you can’t be the mom that’s like, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ But that definitely was the thing,” Kimora Lee Simmons stated. “It went from 0 to 100 really quick, and I was like, ‘Aoki, I didn’t even know this was a thing.’ I found out when the world found out. So that was what was so shocking.”
After evaluating Assaf to Leonardo DiCaprio and different male public figures recognized up to now youthful ladies, Kimora Lee Simmons acknowledged that she, too, had skilled a “big age-gap relationship” up to now.
“I do think it’s predatorial,” she added.
A mom of 5, Kimora Lee Simmons informed TMZ final 12 months that she felt Aoki Lee Simmons had been “set up a little bit,” however didn’t elaborate.
“She’s a young, pretty girl, and we don’t think that the toads that we kiss is going to be, like, broadcast,” she stated. “I was probably a little bit embarrassed, but you know me, I’m definitely like, ‘It is what it is, honey. Come on home, let’s go. Mama’s got your back.’”
