Kimora Lee Simmons on why she stays close to Kim Porter’s daughters
Kimora Lee Simmons shares how her kids and extended family shaped the new season of “Back in the Fab Lane.”
NEW YORK — Kimora Lee Simmons is opening up about how she stays connected to her late friend, Kim Porter.
The business mogul and reality TV star got candid about her relationship to Porter’s children – including twin daughters Jessie and D’Lila Combs – after the death of the former model and ex of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“I’m like the auntie, whatever they need, and they’re very close to us and my kids,” Simmons tells USA TODAY, sharing she “just talked to them a couple of hours” before the interview and that they communicate “all the time.”
“We live very close to each other, literally walking distance across the street,” Simmons says. “We’re very, very close. I have my eye on them, as I have since they were born. I was in the room when they were born. I love them. I’m so proud of them.”
The twins, who turn 19 on Dec. 21, have had turbulent teenage years. Porter died in November 2018 at the age of 47, with the Los Angeles County coroner’s office later confirming she died of pneumonia. In 2024, Sean Combs was arrested, and he began a weekslong trial in May on federal criminal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. A jury found Combs guilty of the latter charge in July, and a judge sentenced him in October to 50 months in prison.
Jessie and D’Lila Combs, who were often at the Manhattan courthouse to support their father, celebrated their high school graduation in the midst of the trial.
But the Combs sisters are moving forward and channeling Porter in their next steps, Simmons shares.
“They have so many things they want to get into, from fashion to modeling. They’re gorgeous like their mom. They remind me of her,” Simmons says.
Porter and Combs raised four children together, including son Christian “King” Combs, 27, and Porter’s son Quincy Brown, 34, whom she had with Al B. Sure!
For Simmons, Porter’s kids continue to add to the family surrounding her. Simmons is mom to daughters Ming, 25, and Aoki, 23, and sons Kenzo, 16, Gary, 16, and Wolfe, 10; she also has a “bonus son,” 19-year-old Jayden, a former classmate of her sons who moved in with the family. The Combs twins are “just two more kids” to add to the bunch, “and all of their siblings, too, even though they’re adults. But still, it doesn’t matter that you’re an adult, you’re still my kid. You’re still someone’s kid as an adult,” Simmons says.
Simmons also revealed she takes care of Porter’s dog Callie. The Pomeranian is similar to Simmons’ late dog Zoe, who was featured prominently on “Life in the Fab Lane” and became a Barbie dog to correspond with Simmons’ 2008 Barbie doll.
“I have now my dear friend Kim Porter’s little black Pomeranian that I think she got because of Zoe,” Simmons says. “I watch her, I keep her, too.”
