Russell Simmons isn’t letting Kimora Lee’s recent comments about the Baby Phat sale slide without reminding everyone exactly who built what.
After she revealed on the Aspire podcast that she walked away with only $20 million or less from the $140 million deal, Russell decided to set the record straight on social media, and his version of events tells a completely different story about who deserves the credit.
Russell’s claiming he handed her everything on a silver platter.
“I gave her the brand, which already existed, I put her in Baby Phat leather shorts the day we met… I found designers / made her famous and marketed the brand with her face. Eventually she learned and blossomed. She did a good job BUT NOTE… very generous of me,” Russell Simmons said.
He’s not just reminding people he created the brand; he’s making it clear that Kimora’s success was built on his foundation and his marketing genius.
Here’s the context that matters: Baby Phat launched in 1999 and became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately.
Within just two years, the brand was already grossing $30 million, a milestone that took Phat Farm six years to reach. That’s not a small detail.
The women’s fashion line was moving faster than the original brand, and Kimora was the creative director and, eventually, the president and CEO of that operation.
When Russell sold both Phat Farm and Baby Phat to Kellwood Company in 2004, the entire package went for $140 million.
Kimora’s saying she only got $20 million or less from that $140 million sale, which means she didn’t own the company outright. Russell controlled the majority stake, and when the deal closed, most of that money went to him. She was the face and the creative force, but he was the owner.
Kimora claimed that the entire sale was based on Baby Phat’s success, yet she still walked away with a fraction of what the brand was worth.
The tension between them over who built Baby Phat into a billion-dollar brand has been brewing for years.
Kimora’s been building her own empire since the sale, and she recently dropped “Simmons” from her name as part of what she’s calling a personal reset.
Russell’s been living in Bali since 2017, but he’s clearly still invested in how the Baby Phat narrative is told. The sale of Phat Farm was a major moment in fashion history, and both of them played a role in making it happen.
The real question isn’t who deserves more credit; it’s whether Russell’s comments are meant to diminish what Kimora actually accomplished or simply to remind people that he took the financial risk.
Kimora’s response to Russell’s claims hasn’t come yet, but given her track record, she’s not the type to let his version of history stand unchallenged.