SHE GOT ROBBED? Kimora Lee Simmons Reveals The SHOCKING Truth Behind The $140M Baby Phat Sale… And Honey, She Barely Saw A Dime!
If there is one thing about Kimora Lee, she is going to keep it 100% “fabulous.” But the fashion icon just dropped some tea that has our jaws on the floor. On the latest episode of the Aspire With Emma Gredepodcast, Kimora got real about the 2004 sale of her empire, Baby Phat, and let’s just say the math was definitely not mathing for the queen of streetwear.
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 9: Aoki Lee Simmons attends Baby Phat By Kimora Lee Simmons Celebration With Macy’s And Make-A-Wish on December 9, 2021 at Cucina 8 1/2 in New York City. (Photo by Patrick McMullan/PMC via Getty Images)
We all remember the early 2000s—if you didn’t have that rhinestone cat on your chest or your backside, were you even outside? At its peak, Baby Phat was a certified juggernaut, raking in over $1 BILLION in revenue. But when it came time to sell the company to The Kellwood Company, Kimora says she was left in the dark!
The Ultimate Business Betrayal?
Kimora, who is now 50 and looking better than ever, revealed that she wasn’t even aware the early sale conversations were happening. Imagine building a culture-shifting brand from the ground up, only to have the suits in the back room making moves without you!
The sale was valued at a whopping $140 million, but according to Kimora, her cut was nowhere near that.She told Emma:
“I probably made — I think we ended up selling… it for 100-and-something million dollars. I probably got $20 million of that, or less. And the entire sale was based on Baby Phat.”
Twenty million?! Now, don’t get us wrong, that’s a lot of Birkin bags—but for a woman who was the creative director, the president, and the literal face of a billion-dollar brand, it’s giving pennies on the dollar. It’s clear that her ex-husband, Russell Simmons, and the other execs were the ones really eating at that table!
A New Era: No More “Simmons”?
This revelation comes at a messy time in the Simmons family history. While Russell has been dealing with his own legal “situations” overseas, Kimora has been making major moves to distance herself. Word on the street is she’s officially dropping the “Simmons” from her name to move forward with “greater intention.”She’s done being an offshoot of someone else’s legacy!
But don’t count her out. Kimora is proving that you can’t keep a boss down. She’s been busy reclaiming her time—and her brand. After buying Baby Phat back in 2019, she’s been leaning into the Y2K nostalgia that Gen Z is obsessed with. She’s calling this her “relaunch” era, treating the brand like another one of her babies that she’s nursing back to health.
And for the fans who miss seeing her life on screen, get your popcorn ready! Her new reality series, Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane, premiered recently on E!, documenting her life as a CEO and single mother of five. It looks like Kimora is teaching her daughters, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, the business lessons she had to learn the hard way.
She might have been “robbed” in the past, but Kimora is making sure the next generation of the empire has their names on the deed and the checks!
What do you think? Did Russell do Kimora dirty with that sale, or is that just the way the business world turns? Sound off in the comments!
