Angela Simmons faced backlash for wearing a bedazzled gun-shaped purse to the 2024 BET Awards on Sunday (June 30). Simmons defended herself against critics, who believed the purse was in poor taste due to her ex-fiancé’s 2018 shooting death.
“So, I see a lot of conversation around the bag, the purse I wore to the [BET] Awards,” she said on Instagram Stories. “And normally I don’t address rumors and stuff, but I’m not like that, never been like that. I’m super—I’m not violent. I’ve obviously been through a lot in my personal life when it comes to gun violence and it’s very personal to me. But I just liked the bag and I thought that it was cool and I thought it was a fashion moment and that was it.”
She continued, “I didn’t have any intentions of ruffling anyone’s feathers. It seems like everyone – or a couple of people, I’ll say – are a little upset. But I don’t mean no harm. I’m super, super peaceful. And yeah, I’m sorry if it bothered anyone. But that’s not me, that’s just not how I am.”
Sutton Tennyson, Simmons’ former fiancé and the father of her son, was shot and killed in 2018. His killer was sentenced to life in prison.
“I had to immediately go to therapy,” Simmons said regarding the death of her child’s father. “It was just a lot. It’s an ongoing thing. Without therapy, I don’t think I’d be here. This is like his dad we’re talking about, you know what I mean? I was numb. My son always asks about him, so there’s that constant conversation that I have to deal with.”
Simmons, the daughter of Hip-Hop legend Rev Run, is currently dating Yo Gotti. She began dating Yo Gotti in 2022.
View some of the reactions to Simmons’ gun-shaped purse below.