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How Kimora Lee Simmons Reacted to Daughter Aoki Lee's "Shocking" Romance With Man 44 Years Older
Even when you're living life in the fab lane, sometimes situations veer off course.
So, Kimora Lee Simmons will just speed into the future as a single woman. Two days before her husband Tim Leissner—a former Goldman Sachs banker who pled guilty in 2018 to stealing millions of dollars from the Malaysian government—began his two-year prison sentence back in February, he signed paperwork to end their 12-year marriage.
In the court documents, filed April 20, per the petition obtained by E! News, he requested joint custody of their 11-year-old son Wolfe as well as spousal support from the Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane star. He also asked the court to terminate Lee Simmons' ability to receive alimony. (E! News has reached out to her rep for comment, but hasn't heard back.)
But even without Leissner in her passenger seat, Lee Simmons still has plenty of ride or dies.
And when it comes to her kids—in addition to Wolfe, the Baby Phat founder shares daughters Ming, 26, and Aoki , 23, with former husband Russell Simmons, son Kenzo, 16, with ex Djimon Hounsou, as well as son Gary, 16, and "bonus son" Jayden, 19, who has lived with the fam since he was in the fourth grade—"I'm really protective," Lee Simmons told E! News last December. "Whatever they need, I'm there. Whatever's a problem, I'm there."
And they respond in kind, agreeing to jump in when the 50-year-old made the decision to return to reality TV with E!'s Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane.
Though she acknowledged her eldest daughters "were excited" to tag along, "I had to bribe them." With their demands including a sports car and wardrobe of "fancy" work clothes, she continued to E!, "They took advantage, so it actually cost me more to do this production."
But it was money well spent, if you ask the '90s runway fixture.
"I want them to be happy," she explained. "I want them to be well-adjusted. I want all the best things for them."
And, yes, their life is fab. Keep reading for the lowdown on her squad.
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Kimora Lee Simmons
In Kimora Lee Simmons' house, she's the mom, the dad, the president and the CFO.
"It's like The Brady Bunch," the runway fixture turned Baby Phat mogul joked of her blended family of seven in the Back in the Fab Lane trailer, "but with no husband."
And when it comes to her crew—she shares daughters Ming and Aoki with former husband Russell Simmons, son Kenzo with ex Djimon Hounsou, son Wolfe with estranged husband Tim Leissner, as well as son Gary and "bonus son" Jayden—"I'm really protective," Kimora told E! News in 2025. "Whatever they need, I'm there. Whatever's a problem, I'm there."
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Ming Lee
Ming—the eldest of five siblings—was born on Jan. 21, 2000 to Kimora and her then-husband, hip hop music legend Russell Simmons.
Ming attended NYU and is currently following in her mom's footsteps by pursuing a career in modeling.
"I grew up on the runway, walking with my mom and sister at the end of every Baby Phat show during fashion week in New York," the founder of bodycare brand Boulangerie Beauty told W Magazine in October 2017. "I've been in ads with my mom and sister since I was 2 years old. I'm only now realizing how uncommon that is and I'm deeply appreciative of those experiences."
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Aoki Lee
Kimora and Russell welcomed youngest daughter Aoki on Aug. 16, 2002.
In addition to modeling, Aoki has proved herself to be quite the intellectual. She was accepted to Harvard at just 16 and graduated from the prestigious university in 2023.
"I feel grateful, proud and relieved — in that order!" Aoki told People at the time. "It's a surreal feeling to be done with something that was such a huge part of my life. Now, like every other graduate, I'm on to the next chapter."
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Kenzo
Kimora and former partner Djimon Hounsou are parents to Kenzo, born May 30, 2009, his name being "third and wise" in Japanese, as Kimora has shared.
Now a teenager and towering over his parents at 6-foot-9, Kenzo is a dual threat: A standout athlete on his high school's varsity basketball team, he also starred in a modeling campaign for clothing brand Eve.
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Gary
With so much love to give, Kimora had been pondering adoption "for many years," she revealed to Us Weekly. And she was able to bring then-10-year-old Gary into the fold in 2020.
"We're a big group, a loud group," she explained to Us of the high school football player. "Everyone’s always screaming to me, 'Mom, mom help me do this, do that' all the time. 'Mom, mom, mom.' So he, in that sense, has blended right in."
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Wolfe
Kimora welcomed her youngest, known as "Wolfie", into the pack on April 10, 2015.
"I can’t believe my BABY is 10!!!" she wrote in a 2025 Instagram tribute to her son with estranged husband Tim. "You make me so proud every single day, my smart, funny, silly boy!"
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Jayden
While not Kimora's biological son, Kimora acts as mama to "bonus son" Jayden. Despite her already sizable brood, she explained during a December 2025 appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends that she serves as a "surrogate mom" to several other children.
"I have my kids, and then I have kids on the side," Kimora noted. "I'm a lot of people's mom."
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