Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons Sets It Straight On Child Support Ruling

In a letter addressed to critics, hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons defends a child support ruling and set the record straight regarding the amount of child support he pays and why he’s glad to pay it.

In a letter addressed to critics, hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons, 50, defended a child support ruling that was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court involving the hip-hop mogul and his ex-wife Kimora Lee Simmons, 33, and their two daughters Ming Lee, 8, and Aoki Lee, 5. Simmons set the record straight regarding the amount of child support he pays and why he’s glad to pay it.

In the statement, Simmons stated the following:

Friends of mine have forwarded me gossip online about my custody agreement details with Kimora. The fact is, we’ve had a pretty good partnership at sharing the girls in the past.

There have been a few bumps in the road, and those bumps have led us to negotiate a minimum amount of time I’m guaranteed to see my kids. That deal is as follows: I have the girls one full week out of every eight, half of the summer, half of all the holidays, a full week at Christmas, and half of Spring Break.

Like in all good partnerships, contracts are meant to protect the partners but are usually not the only way the partners work together. If I show up in L.A., where she now lives, unannounced, I can call up Kimora and she will most likely send them right over. The same goes for when she comes to New York.

We have always had a school in New York and a school with the same curriculum in L.A., so when the girls are with me in New York, we can spend quality time together. I can get up with them, take them to school and just be together. Kimora consults with me about doctors or schools for the girls, but she’s always had final say in those areas. If we had an argument about a school, guess who’s going to win?

But there are other stipulations in our agreement where we have to make final decisions together. Anything having to do with business decisions pertaining to my kids cannot be done without my consent. I’ve also seen a lot about people reading into the supervised visits stipulation. Kimora travels with a security guard and a nanny.

In the past, she’s gotten really nervous that I never travel with security, so if it makes her more comfortable to have her security and a nanny with us when I’m with my kids, that’s OK with me. Finally, I want to say Kimora is a excellent mother and is doing a great job with them. My kids are studying a couple of foreign languages, they travel around the world, they practice yoga, ballet, swimming, karate and piano, among other things…sometimes I think they do too much, but I trust in Kimora on this because she IS a good mother.

Regarding the money, my kids live a tremendous life. They do have lots of security, nannies, educators, special programs, travel, chefs, on and on. Their mother manages all of those luxuries and I’m happy to provide for that.

With great love all things are possible.
Russell Simmons

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The ruling made on Tuesday granted Kimora Lee, sole custody of their two young daughters, while allowing Simmons one week of visitation out of every eight weeks and extra time for summer vacations and holidays. Russell Simmons will be paying $20K a month per child which reportedly stops at the age of 19 1/2 or when they are married, becomes financially independent, emancipated, stops living with their mother or joins the armed forces. In addition, Simmons will allegedly also buy or lease a car for his two daughters in the amount of $60K or more, once every 24 months.

When Kimora Lee Simmons filed for divorce from Russell in March, the CEO of the Baby Phat clothing line, reportedly cited irreconcilable differences. The two have been married for almost 10 years.

In other news, Kimora Lee Simmons alleged has stated that she is “kind of” engaged to her now boyfriend, actor Djimon Hounsou. The two have been reportedly dating for several months and Kimora stated that she wasn’t actually looking for romance when she met the actor back on last February.