Kimora Lee Simmons is speaking out about her daughter Aoki’s brief age-gap romance with restaurateur Vittorio Assaf.
“I feel like she was set up a little bit,” Lee Simmons, 48, told TMZ on Thursday, May 9. “I was probably a little bit embarrassed, but you know me, I was like, ‘It is what it is, honey. Come on, let’s go. Mama’s got your back. NDA’s coming!’”
Kimora shares daughters Aoki, 21, and Ming, 24, with ex Russell Simmons. (The fashion designer also shares son Kenzo, 14, with ex Djimon Hounsou and son Wolfe, 8, with ex Tim Leissner. She also adopted son Gary when he was 10 in 2020.)
Aoki was briefly linked to Assaf, 65, in April when they were spotted packing on the PDA during a beach vacation.
“I don’t think she [was] hiding anything,” Kimora added to TMZ. “She’s a young, pretty girl and [we oftentimes] don’t think that the toads that we kiss [are] going to be, like, broadcasted. I personally feel like she was set up. … Well, there’s definitely an age dynamic there.”
After news broke that Aoki and Assaf called it quits, Kimora seemingly shared a supportive message for her daughter.
“5:45 a.m. Rise and shine,” Kimora wrote via her Instagram Story on April 9. “Hold your head high even if you don’t feel like it! You got this! I love you! 😘❤️.”
On Thursday, Kimora stressed to TMZ that she tries hard to “teach” her daughters certain lessons before they are thrust into certain situations.
Neither Aoki nor Assaf had publicly addressed their brief fling or 44-year age gap, but the aspiring model has learned a lot of tricks from her mother regarding her personal and professional experiences.
“My mom was literally trying to coach me while I walked down the runway during the Sergio Hudson show,” Aoki exclusively told Us Weekly later in April. “I walked by and she yelled, ‘SHOULDERS!’ Since I started my career, my mom has given me a lot of helpful advice, but I also appreciate the amount of space she has given me to make my own way. She’s allowing me to figure it out.”
As Aoki, a Harvard University grad, steps into the modeling industry, she told Us that she is trying to “focus on the moment.”
“There is so much to learn in this business, so I’m staying flexible and enjoying the surprise of what comes,” Aoki added at the time.
