😳 RUSSELL SIMMONS RESPONDS AFTER KIMORA LEE SAYS SHE WAS 16 WHEN HE PURSUED HER: HIS TEAM SAYS SHE WAS ALMOST 18

Chile, somebody pulled out the calendar.

Russell Simmons is pushing back after his ex-wife, Kimora Lee, revisited the beginning of their relationship in her new Lifetime documentary, Kimora Lee: On Her Own. Kimora says she was 16 years old when she met Simmons, who was 18 years older than her, and described him showing up at her fashion shows, coming backstage and sending her large flower arrangements.

Now Simmons' camp is saying: That's not the timeline they remember.

👀 KIMORA SAYS SHE WAS 16

In the documentary, Kimora describes herself as a teenage model when Simmons began showing interest in her.

She also revealed something that hits very differently all these years later: Tyra Banks apparently tried to intervene.

Kimora recalled Tyra keeping her at her apartment for an entire weekend so she couldn't go home, check her voicemail and return Simmons' calls. At the time, Kimora thought her friend might have been “hating.” Looking back as an adult, she says she now believes Tyra was trying to protect her.

And THAT little piece of the story had everybody looking at Tyra like...

Girl, you saw something coming down the highway before everybody else did. 👀

🗓️ RUSSELL'S TEAM CAME WITH DATES

A spokesperson for Simmons gave Baller Alert a much more specific version of events.

His camp says Simmons and Kimora first met at a Mary McFadden fashion show in February 1993, with several people from the fashion world present. Kimora was born May 4, 1975, which, if that February 1993 date is correct, would have made her approximately 17 years and nine months old, not 16.

Simmons' representative also pointed to older published interviews as support for his account. According to the statement, a 2004 profile described Kimora as 17 when Simmons noticed her on the runway, while the spokesperson cited another past interview as indicating that their relationship did not become physical until she was 18.

So basically Russell's response is:

Hold up. Check the timestamps.

🤨 BUT BABY... THAT STILL LEAVES A QUESTION

Here's where this story gets interesting.

Even under Russell Simmons' own version, Kimora would still have been 17 when the two supposedly first met.

So the disagreement isn't exactly:

“She was 16.”

versus

“She was a grown woman in her twenties.”

It's:

Kimora says 16. Russell's camp says almost 18.

And because Simmons was born in 1957, he would have been in his mid-30s during that period.

That age gap is one reason the story is generating so much conversation now, particularly because Kimora is revisiting the relationship through the eyes of a 51-year-old woman rather than the teenage model she was at the time.

💔 KIMORA IS LOOKING AT THE WHOLE RELATIONSHIP DIFFERENTLY NOW

The documentary isn't simply about what age she was when she met Russell.

Kimora also discusses their marriage and alleges she experienced verbal, emotional and financial abuse, saying she didn't fully recognize certain behavior as abusive until later in life. Those are Kimora's allegations and perspective; they should not be treated as court findings.

The couple eventually married in 1998, had daughters Ming Lee and Aoki, separated in 2006 and finalized their divorce in 2009.

And Kimora appears to be making one thing extremely clear with this documentary:

She's telling the story the way she remembers living it.

Russell remembers part of that story differently.

🎙️ LADY RED SAYS...

Now see, this is where I'm stuck.

Because Russell's team came back with dates, old interviews and a whole CSI: Fashion Week timeline. 😂

And if their February 1993 date is accurate, then yes, that would conflict with Kimora saying she was 16 when they first met.

BUT SIR... YOUR VERSION MAKES HER 17.

That is not exactly the plot twist I was waiting on.

“Your Honor, she wasn't 16. She was 17 years and nine months.”

😐

Okayyyyy...

The precise timeline matters, especially when two people are publicly giving different accounts of their history. But the larger conversation people are having isn't going to disappear over those additional months.

Kimora was a teenager.

Russell was in his mid-30s.

And decades later, Kimora says she sees things about that relationship very differently than she did when she was young.

THAT is the conversation underneath the calendar debate.

Kimora Lee: On Her Own premiered Sunday, September 20, 2026, at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT on Lifetime.

730 BOOM RADIO

IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM! 💥