Kimora Lee once thought Tyra Banks was getting in the way of a relationship she wanted. Decades later, she sees the same behavior as an attempt by a friend to protect her.
In her new Lifetime documentary Kimora Lee: On Her Own, Lee revisits the period when Russell Simmons began pursuing her while she was still a teenage model. Lee says she was 16 when they met and Simmons was 18 years older, while Banks, one of her closest friends at the time, actively tried to slow things down.
“I thought she was a little bit hating,” Lee told People. Looking back, however, she described Banks’ behavior differently: “She was trying to protect me.”
Lee now describes her marriage to Simmons far more critically than she did while they were together. The pair eventually married, welcomed two daughters and divorced, and Lee says she only recognized years later that parts of the relationship were abusive.
Banks Tried to Keep Her Away From Simmons’ Messages
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Lee said Banks’ attempt to intervene went beyond giving her advice. At the time, Simmons had begun sending Lee large flower arrangements and leaving messages for her. Lee remembered spending a weekend at Banks’ apartment when people still relied on home answering machines, meaning she could not return home to hear the messages Simmons had left.
“I remember Tyra kept me in her apartment through the weekend trying to avoid me going home and checking my voicemail,” Lee says in the documentary.
Lee admitted that the strategy irritated her at the time. She wondered whether Simmons had previously pursued Banks and interpreted her friend’s interference as jealousy. “I felt a little bit like she was hating for sure, just because she was getting in my way and getting on my nerves,” Lee told People.
Her thinking was also shaped by the confidence that her own experience would somehow turn out differently. “We think everything is going to be different,” Lee said. “My time is going to be different.”
Banks ultimately remained close enough to Lee to serve as a bridesmaid when she married Simmons in 1998. Lee also made Banks the godmother of her daughter Aoki, although Lee recently said the two former friends have not spoken in years.
Banks Had Warned Her About Simmons Decades Ago
In an April 2005 Vanity Fair profile, Lee recalled Simmons becoming interested in her after seeing her walk in a New York fashion show while she was still a teenager. According to Lee’s account at the time, Banks told Simmons, “Leave her alone. She’s a good girl.”
Lee also told the magazine that other women around her warned her against pursuing him. “All the girls were telling me to leave him alone,” she recalled. “Said he’s no good.”
Lee was still married to Simmons when she gave it and spoke about him much differently than she does now. She defended their relationship even while describing it as tumultuous and discussing periods when she had considered leaving.
Lee Now Describes the Marriage as Abusive
Lee and Simmons married in 1998 and welcomed daughters Ming Lee and Aoki. They separated in 2006 and finalized their divorce in 2009.
In the new documentary and accompanying People interview, Lee says she now believes Simmons was verbally abusive during much of their relationship and that it took years for her to recognize other dynamics she considers abusive. “I didn’t even realize it was abusive until I started putting the pieces together,” Lee told People.
She said some behaviors seemed normal to her at the time, specifically mentioning what she now describes as financial and emotional abuse.
Simmons has separately faced sexual assault and misconduct allegations from multiple women. He has denied those allegations, previously telling People that his relationships were consensual. Lee said she did not know about those accusations while they were together.
Lee Says Her Legal Fight With Simmons Has Been Resolved
Their relationship continued to produce conflict long after the divorce. Simmons sued Lee and her then-husband Tim Leissner in 2021 over shares in energy drink company Celsius, alleging that stock belonging partly to him had been transferred without his consent. Lee disputed his claims.
The conflict later became part of a broader public rupture involving the former couple and their daughters. Lee also accused Simmons in 2023 of threatening their children, while Simmons subsequently apologized publicly for becoming frustrated and yelling during disputes with his daughters.
Ahead of the documentary’s premiere, however, Lee told People that the stock litigation between her and Simmons has since been resolved.
Asked whether revisiting their relationship publicly might create more conflict with her former husband, Lee made clear that she was no longer concerned about his reaction. She said she considers that chapter finished and is focused instead on telling her own version of what happened.
‘Kimora Lee: On Her Own’ Looks Beyond Her Marriage
Simmons is only one part of the story Lee revisits in Kimora Lee: On Her Own. The documentary traces her early modeling career, including becoming a teenage model for Chanel, as well as the rise of Baby Phat, motherhood and the personal relationships and legal disputes that followed her years at the center of fashion and celebrity culture.
The film also arrives as Lee deliberately changes how she presents herself publicly. People reported earlier this month that she has dropped Simmons from her name as she looks back on both the professional success and personal upheaval attached to that period of her life.
Lifetime describes the documentary as “a portrait of resilience and independence” examining the personal and professional challenges that shaped Lee. Kimora Lee: On Her Own premieres Sunday, Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime and will be available to stream the following day.