Last week, it seemed like Aoki Lee Simmons, the 21-year-old daughter of Kimora Lee Simmons and Russell Simmons, had a new, 65-year-old boyfriend. But according to People, whatever was happening between Aoki Lee Simmons and restaurateur Vittorio Assaf is no longer. “Not only is it ‘over,’ it was never a thing,” a source told the tabloid, adding that “Aoki is learning to navigate her private life in a public sphere.”
On Friday, following tabloid reports that Simmons and Assaf were dating, “Page Six” published photos of the two vacationing on St. Barts. The rumored couple were seen kissing and swimming at the beach, where Assaf periodically took photos of Simmons while she posed.
Over the weekend, Simmons went live on Instagram in a car with an off-camera man she referred to as her “boyfriend.” “Last day in St. Barts,” she said in the bizarre video, which showed her repeatedly asking for a crêpe and pointing out her favorite stores outside the car window. The man she’s talking to doesn’t show up in the video but can be heard answering her questions, and they both address each other as “baby.”
Assaf, who’s best known for founding the Serafina restaurant group, shares two children with his ex-wife, a Swedish former model named Charlotte Bonstrom. In 2021, the couple made tabloid headlines when Bonstrom left him for the founder of Zadig&Voltaire — who at the time happened to be married to Bonstrom’s identical twin. Amid rumors that Assaf had hooked up with Bonstrom’s twin as revenge, he told “Page Six,” “Charlotte and I are in the process of divorce,” adding, “I have nothing to do with the sister of Charlotte.” In 2022, Assaf was pictured at a few parties with then-22-year-old model Nya Gatbel.
Simmons, who models part time and graduated from Harvard last year at the age of 20, declined to comment on the relationship rumors. Meanwhile, Kimora posted an Instagram Story on Friday showing a panda trying to wrangle a stubborn cub. “On my last nerve right now!” she wrote. Following reports of the couple’s split, a source told People that “Kimora was concerned to see her daughter in that kind of relationship due to what she herself went through,” so presumably she’s relieved this has run its course.
This post has been updated.