The youngest daughter to rap mogul Russell Simmons, Aoki Lee Simmons, thought she would share with her almost one million followers the love she has for her new boyfriend, but she has faced backlash for sharing an image of him – and according to the comments, it’s because he is white.
In the photo posted on Valentine’s Day, Simmons is seen sitting on the lap of a man in a living room while they look lovingly into each other’s eyes. The caption only shows a red heart.
While some commented about how happy they were for her, others had choice words for the Harvard student who models on the side.
“Sis, a white man? Have you even explored what love is like with a Black man?” one commenter wrote.
“…and here come everyone’s opinions about who she chooses to love,” another rebuffed. “Sometimes human beings are predictable in the saddest of ways. Let this woman be happy.”
Even though most supported her interracial relationship, the hateful comments caused her to respond.
“It’s genuinely so awful. How is any young person supposed to have a normal well adjusted life if this is what happens over a Godamn tagless valentines day post?!” she wrote on an Instagram story. “And I had no idea because within my page it’s mild and mostly positive. (Thank you guys for that) but I guess outside of it the world, people I haven’t done anything to or harmed at all, are just horrendously bitter and racist.
She continued: “Anyway. I need to reconsider how/ if I use this platform and what I share. Which sucks because l’m an open person but this can’t happen to people I care about. I understand the public figure/you knew it was going to happen ec… argument. Sure I guess I knew the world was stuck in 1950 and would have some recessive & to say about something as simple as an interracial relationship…….Like that’s truly sad, especially from people of color, but it was expected.”
According to reports, Simmons and her boyfriend have been seeing each other for over a year, but she only shared pictures of his feet in the past. Her Valentine’s Day post was the first time anyone saw his face or skin color.
