Kimora Lee Simmons revealed that she and longtime friend Tyra Banks haven’t spoken in a while.
“Tyra is one of my kids’ godmothers, as well. Although we haven’t talked in a very long time,” the Baby Phat founder, 50, said during the Tuesday, April 7, episode of the “Aspire With Emma Grede” podcast. “We used to be very, very close. I started Top Model with her.”
Simmons further shared that she was not approached to participate in the hit Netflix documentary about America’s Next Top Model, despite appearing on the reality show’s inaugural season as a judge. Still, Simmons was tuned in to the eye-opening docuseries.
“It was a crazy moment in time, I think a lot of the things they talk about in it … a lot of what was portrayed leading up to the documentary … were true. Were very true,” she recalled of the controversial reality TV show. “Treacherous moments, with models.”
Banks, 52, and Simmons started their respective modeling careers as teens. The pair formed a close bond while modeling in Paris in the early ‘90s. Simmons reportedly requested Banks to be her roommate while they lived in a model house in Paris.
“She always had the new Prada bag and would laugh at me because mine was from Wal-Mart,” Banks shared of Simmons in a 2004 interview with New York magazine.
As they both broke barriers in the fashion world and rose to fame, their friendship grew stronger.
“I think there was always something about Tyra and I think she saw that in me, too. She came along later than me – I was the youngest girl to model in the history of Chanel I believe,” Simmons said in a March 2013 interview with Hello. “I’ve gone more in the direction of designing and creating brands, and she did more TV and TV production from the modeling side.”
When Kimora welcomed Ming Lee Simmons, 26, with ex Russell Simmons in 2000, she named Banks as her daughter’s godmother. In addition to Ming, Kimora and Russell share daughter Aoki Lee Simmons.
After Kimora separated from Russell in 2006, she moved on with Djimon Hounsou. The pair welcomed son Kenzo in 2009. Kimora and Hounsou separated in 2012. Kimora later wed investment banker Tim Leissner in 2014, welcoming son Wolfe the following year. Kimora and Leissner eventually split in 2022. While married to Leissner, Kimora adopted her son Gary, making her a mother of five.
Banks, for her part, is mother to son York, whom she welcomed via surrogacy with ex Erik Asla after previously struggling with fertility issues.
