Aoki Lee Simmons Quits Modeling After Breakup With ‘Sugar Daddy’, 65, and Comparisons to Mom Kimora

Following your dreams can sometimes be a difficult feat, even for nepo kids.

It should be admitted that Aoki Lee Simmons has had a difficult time within the modeling industry, similar to her mother Kimora Lee Simmons once did.

The 22-year-old took to social media to share her sadness, claiming that senior people within the industry criticize her for her appearance.

In a video she reposted along with her social media followers on October 11, Aoki said: “I like modeling, but it surely’s hard to go somewhere and consistently be told, ‘No, no, no, you are not pretty enough, you are not pretty enough.

The youngest daughter of music mogul Russell Simmons made history as considered one of the youngest black women to graduate from Harvard University, which she began on the age of 16. She claims that she’s going to “soon end her modeling career” and put her diploma into practice.

“I get a job in the sector I’m studying. But you recognize, so long as I’m here, I should do my best,” Aoki added.

Trying to get followers to understand her thought process, she further explained, “If I am going to an audition that my mom all the time went to and it just seems like one big, big, constant comparison. … I understand that my mother will all the time be a significantly better model than me. But sometimes these comparisons are only annoying.

“‘It should be an amazing feeling to go to an audition your mom went to,’ and I said, ‘No, it isn’t true. It’s terrible, because whenever you don’t understand it, you’re feeling much more like…” she stopped before finishing. “I think I’ll eventually go back to working in government, that’s what my degree is all about. But as long as I’m here, I’ll give it my all, OK.”

It’s unclear what social media app Aoki used to chat along with her followers, but someone apparently suggested she hire a coach to help her land more gigs.

However, she rejected the offer, saying: “I do not need a coach, I’m model. I do know this sounds presumptuous, but it surely’s not. I worked really hard on this. It’s only a difficult industry. For example, there are lots of beautiful, great girls, great models, who do not have a job.

But Aoki already has certain plans for the longer term. She said: “I’m taking the Foreign Service exam to get back into diplomacy, that is what my degree is all about. You should finish strong and with respect for the job and the industry during which you’ve chosen to work. So I’ll finish strong,” she later claims, something her mother all the time taught her.

Aoki also updated fans in regards to the concert with Victoria’s Secret she went to before the 2024 fashion show in New York, which is able to happen on October 15.

“I won’t be doing the Victoria Secret walk this yr, no. Maybe I wanted to, but I didn’t understand. But I’m completely happy for everybody who did it,” she noted.

Aoki’s dramatic profession change comes months after she complained about having to discover a job. She moved to her first apartment in New York, which she furnished mainly herself, after breaking up with the 65-year-old founding father of Serafina Restaurant Group, Vittorio Assaf.

The two made headlines after they were spotted kissing in photos that went viral on a beach in Saint Barthélemy in April.

Fans immediately began comparing the age difference between her mother and her father, Russell Simmons, whom Aoki had previously warned would wish a “sugar daddy” if he didn’t raise her allowance.

Aoki suggested that her parents were concerned about her relationship with Assaf, who was 44 years her senior. A couple of weeks after the criticism, she stated in an Instagram Live video that “I don’t have a boyfriend” before turning off her comments.

Her mother Kimora began modeling across the age of 13, and shortly thereafter signed a contract with Chanel and worked under renowned German designer Karl Lagerfield. In 1998, Kimora married a former Def Jam executive.

According to Russell, he met Kimora when she was 17, and they began dating her when she was 18, when he was around 30. After greeting one another, Ming and Aoki divorced in 2006.

Kimora can be well-known for launching the long-lasting fashion brand Baby Phat, sister brand to Russell’s Phat Farm. The launch took place in 1999, before she and Russell sold the brand to Kellwood Co. in 2004

This can be not the primary time Aoki has admitted that she is teased for her appearance. Already on the age of 15, she wrote, amongst others: long message on IG revealing that she decided to post her face more often as her insecurities grew after repeatedly hearing that her appearance was not as favorable as that of her mother and Ming Lee Simmons, her older sister.

She wrote: “I used to be very picky about photos and didn’t really show my face and often didn’t post photos of cool events or important moments because I didn’t like my smile or I was standing next to my beautiful sister. It’s easy to get insecure when your sister and mom are models.”

Aoki continued, “I dealt with a lot of negative reactions on Instagram, with comments saying I wasn’t as pretty as my older sister (who is the best, by the way). We all want to look good in photos, but I’ve tried to let it go and post photos of me looking happy or actually having fun. I try not to worry about who I’m standing next to and just share the good times with you.”