Russell Simmons has a message for his daughters after a scathing Father’s Day this year.
Following allegations of abuse and yelling, he took to Instagram to apologize to his daughters for his behavior and offer an explanation.
With a clip of his daughters for the image in the post, Russell took to his caption to say his piece and offer an explanation and apology for his actions.
“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 . . . 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,” Russel wrote in his post.
“You are the watchers of this world . . . so let go . . . be at ease . . . God is driving and he is working on you ❤️,” he continued, “DEEPLY sorry for being frustrated and yelling . . . but know this . . . there are no conditions . . . for sure i love you guys more than i love myself.”
The post has received nearly 400,000 likes, but doesn’t appear to have been publicly acknowledged by his children.
Russell Simmons was called out after Father’s Day
Russell Simmons is feeling the heat after this past Father’s Day weekend came with a call-out from his ex-wife and his daughters.
Rather than wishing Russell a happy holiday, his daughter Ming, 23, took to her Instagram Stories and wished her mother a happy Father’s Day instead, which seemed to spark some feelings in Russell.
As Page Six reported, Russell then responded on his own Story, sharing an image that read, “Stop telling fathers they should have fought harder to see their children & start asking mothers why he had to fight at all.”
But that wasn’t all. He shared another image that read, “The father you have is the perfect father for the evolution of your soul and the lessons that you needed to learn in this lifetime.”
His daughters didn’t take too kindly to this message, with his younger daughter Aoki, 20, taking to her own Instagram account on Monday to discuss her relationship with her father and talk about how unwell he is.
Aoki Lee Simmons says ‘my father is not well’
On her Instagram Stories, Aoki explained that she doesn’t talk to her father very much because it’s very stressful and the conversations usually end up with a lot of anger and rage, and she has to take “emergency medication” to calm her nerves and anxiety afterward.
In a post shared by The Shade Room, she went further into how she feels about her father and exactly what’s going on with the Def Jam Recordings co-founder.
On the third slide, there was a comment or caption from Aoki explaining her feelings toward her father.
“My father is not well, for years, he needs help and won’t accept [that he] refuses to acknowledge he is not himself,” she began.
“He has threatened and bullied my sister, my grandma, he has harassed my grandma in the middle of the night in poor health, send a man to my sisters apartment at 2am to scare her.”
“He lashes out at ANYONE who does not say ‘oh Russell everything is fine’. Well it’s not fine. If ‘I never get a fashion job again’ like he threatens, I’ll be a lawyer I guess and work in criminal Justice. Sure I love my job but if he takes it away from me I won’t die. You don’t threaten my sister and grandma and mother and say ‘who’s gonna believe you I’m Russell Simmons nobody thinks I’m crazy’ well he is,” she concluded in her lengthy message.
It’s clear that regardless of his public apology, Russell has a lot of work to do before the relationships within his family are healed, if they ever will be.