Russell Simmons is swooping in to support his daughter — but he might be a day late and a dollar short.
Over the weekend, bombshell pics dropped of Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons’ 21-year-old daughter Aoki on a romantic vacation in St. Barts with a man over four decades (!!) her senior! That’s right! In the pics obtained by Page Six, the college grad could be seen kissing 65-year-old restaurateur Vittorio Assaf. A source later confirmed to People that the two are dating and “enjoying each others’ company.”
Who is Vittorio Assaf? Meet the Serafina co-founder seen kissing Aoki Lee Simmons https://t.co/l4FzwdjaTB pic.twitter.com/qO2qijbIvR
— Page Six (@PageSix) April 5, 2024
Momma bear Kimora did not seem happy about the news, though. She took to her Instagram Story on Friday night to share a telling video of a panda removing her cub from a situation with her teeth. The 48-year-old model captioned it:
“On my last nerve right now!”
So is Russell trying to swoop in to seem like the supportive parent in the messy situation?
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On Sunday, he shared a throwback pic on IG from when Aoki and her big sister Ming, 24, were kids. He captioned the pic, “Happy Sunday,” before sharing a second a more recent one of the sisters, which he tactfully captioned:
“Train your mind to see the good in every situation”
Uhhh…
The embattled 66-year-old then shared a pic on his feed from last Father’s Day with Aoki. The two sat side-by-side as they smiled for the camera, and Russell included a text box over the image which read, “Unconditional love 
.” He captioned the post:
“Throw back from last fathers day nyc … bode bikram yoga express class .. vegan lunch cryotherapy vitamin drip … all around amazing day
He’s really trying to make himself seem like a supportive parent! But fans instead think he’s being an “enabler” and a “deadbeat” dad! Whoa!! In the comments, IG users scolded Russell for his estrangement from his daughters, which they think has played a role in Aoki’s choice of partner:
“This is your fault Russell. You shouldn’t be enabling this. The man is your age and you see nothing wrong!”
“You should be outraged about this. Not posting sweet pics like you approve. She’s a grown woman yes, but this is blatantly a cry for help and her looking for an older man to guide her because you aren’t in her life.”
“You’re to blame for this insane s**t”
“These are textbook daddy issues for Aoki. I remember you made that poor girl cry and then you doubled down after it was made public. She’s got another daddy now. Stand back!”
Yikes!!
Last Father’s Day — yes, the same one Russell gushed about in his post — Kimora and their daughters blasted him for verbal abuse. First of all, Ming shared a Father’s Day tribute… to Kimora! He reacted by seemingly trying to put the blame on Kimora, which led to the floodgates being opened. She unleashed on all the wrong he’s allegedly done their family. She even shared a screenshot from a message exchange between him and Aoki in which she explained that she needed to stop talking to him because he gives her “panic attacks.”
Kimora also shared footage from a FaceTime call between Russell in Aoki in which he yelled at her relentlessly, causing her to cry. Aoki later went in on him, writing in a since-deleted social media post:
“My father is not well, for years, he needs help and won’t accept that he refuses to acknowledge he is not himself.”
What are YOUR thoughts here, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments down below!
[Images via Aoki Lee Simmons & Vittorio Assaf/Instagram, & Avalon/MEGA/WENN]