Aoki Lee Simmons' father, Russell Simmons, is weighing in on his 21-year-old daughter's relationship with 65-year-old restaurateur Vittorio Assaf.
Just days after ET obtained pics of the model kissing Vittorio during a beach vacation in St. Barts, TMZ caught up with Russell, 66, who said that he spoke with his daughter about her relationship before news broke and he isn't sweating her decisions.
"I’m not gonna kick and scream about her choices," the Def Jam Records co-founder told the outlet. "All I can do is offer my advice and unconditional love."
Aoki and Russell have a notably fractured relationship and she even took to Instagram last year to call him out, alleging in a post that he "threatened and bullied" her family members and is "not well." She later deleted the inflammatory posts where she also claimed he exhibited abusive behavior.
Aoki Lee Simmons, Russell Simmons and Ming Lee Simmons
While not directly addressing his daughter's relationship with Vittorio and the 44-year age gap, Russell also took to Instagram on Saturday to share a photo of himself and his daughter from last Father's Day, prior to their relationship publicly splintering.
"Throw back from last fathers day nyc ...bode bikram yoga express class .. vegan lunch cryotherapy vitamin drip ... all around amazing day ❤️ @aokileesimmons love you always," Russell wrote. He accompanied the caption with a picture of them smiling and "unconditional love" written just underneath the photo.
Aoki Lee Simmons and Vittorio Assaf
Russell shares Aoki and 24-year-old Ming Lee Simmons with his ex-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons. The pair married in 1998 and split up in 2006 before she ultimately filed for divorce in 2008.
Last June, ET spoke with Kimora, 48, alongside Aoki and Ming, and she shared that Aoki is not one to be messed with.
"Aoki is famous for giving you a full Ivy League read," Kimora said of the Harvard graduate. "I say like, 'Don't piss me off and then I have to go get Aoki who is going to read you so bad. You're not even going to know what she said but you'll know you lost that argument.'"
Following Aoki's public address of her father's alleged abusive behavior in 2023 -- which she later said she did not regret doing despite deleting her posts -- Russell issued a public apology of his own to Aoki and Ming in an Instagram post. At the time, he pleaded with his children to move forward and thanked them for their love and patience.
"God is testing you a little bit, it's ok, be strong. . . they are called growing pains . . . as you know, we grow through adversity and struggle," he wrote. "You read my books and heard me preach your whole childhood . . . reach back to old lessons and remember to remember 'smile and breathe' ❤️ 'smile and breathe' . . . you are the watchers of this world . . . so let go . . . be at ease . . . God is driving and he is working on you ❤️."
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