Russell Simmons Claims He ‘Made Kimora Famous’ + Says He Gave Her Baby Phat & Built The Brand Around Her Image

Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee Simmons

Russell Simmons Claims He ‘Made Kimora Famous’ + Says He Gave Her Baby Phat & Built The Brand Around Her Image

Russell Simmons is taking credit for Kimora Lee Simmons’ rise to fame, pushing back on her recent claims about the Baby Phat brand.

“I gave her the brand, which already existed, I put her in baby phat leather shorts the day we met. I found designers / made her famous and marketed the brand with her face. Eventually she learned and blossomed. She did a good job BUT NOTE ..Very generous of me,” he wrote on social media in response to a resurfaced interview clip.

Kimora had previously opened up on the “Aspire With Emma Grede” podcast about the 2004 sale of Baby Phat, suggesting she did not receive a fair share.

“You live and you learn, I probably made — I think we ended up selling … it for 100-and-something million dollars. I probably got $20 million of that, or less. And the entire sale was based on Baby Phat,” she said. She added that she also “missed all of the preliminary conversations” and claimed, “I wasn’t privy to the fact that these [conversations] took place.”

Baby Phat was acquired by the Kellwood Company for a reported $140 million before Kimora regained ownership in 2019. The exchange comes amid ongoing public tension between the former couple, who were married from 1998 to 2009, and follows Kimora’s recent decision to drop “Simmons” from her name.

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