Kimora Lee Simmons, explained that convincing her kids to appear in Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane required more than enthusiasm.
During an interview with E! News, Kimora was candid about how she persuaded kids, in particular her daughters, Ming, 25, and Aoki, 23, to return to television with her.
“I had to bribe them,” she told correspondent Will Marfuggi with a laugh, later adding, “I don’t think it’s appropriate to bribe. I don’t think it’s normal.”
According to Kimora, her daughters weren’t shy about naming their terms. She mentioned incentives ranging from a “sports car” to a “wardrobe of fancy stuff that you have to wear to work.” And like most young adults who grew up in the spotlight, they understood their leverage. “They took advantage, so it actually cost me more to do this production,” she joked. “My girls got paid more than everybody else. Everybody else worked for free. Well, me, I worked for free in order to pay.”
Of course, Kimora’s household has never been a quiet one. The 50-year-old is a mother of five. She shares Ming and Aoki with ex-Russell Simmons, plus sons Kenzo, 16, Gary, 15, and Wolfe, 10. And even though her older girls are technically grown, Kimora says they still orbit home base closely.
“They really haven’t moved out and moved on,” she explained to the outlet. “They do. They travel, they go around. They have their own places as well. But somehow they never really quite left the whole mess.”
The new E! series reunites the family more than a decade after the original Life in the Fab Lane, which aired from 2007 to 2011. While much has changed since then, Kimora says the fun, and chaos, of being a large blended family remains the show’s heart.
“I’m now a mom of five, but I have a lot of other kids all around,” she said. “I’ve changed jobs, careers a few times, husbands, investments. I acquired a bunch of stuff, gotten rid of a bunch of stuff. People are older. I am a boy mom. I was a girl mom. People have driver’s licenses. People are having car wrecks.”
That combination of motherhood, adulthood, and real-life family evolution is exactly what Kimora believes makes this next chapter worth watching. As she put it simply, “It’s life.”
Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on E!
Photo Credit: Kimora Lee Simmons Instagram
