Welcome to Russell Simmons' marriage jam.
The 48-year-old hip-hop impresario and his model-wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, 30, announced Friday that they were calling it quits after seven years of marriage. The couple was said to have been separated for "some time," though they appeared at public events together and remained living under one roof. The split is amicable.
"Kimora and I will remain committed parents and caring friends with great love and admiration for each other," Simmons, 48, said in a statement." We will also continue to work side by side on a daily basis as partners in all of our businesses."
The two met in 1992, when she was a 17-year-old model and he was the 35-year-old head of Def Jam Records. They married in 1998 and have two daughters, six-year-old Ming Lee Simmons and three-year-old Aoki Lee Simmons.
As cofounder of the pioneering Def Jam, Russell Simmons introduced such hip-hop legends as LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys. and Public Enemy; his label also has served as home base to Foxy Brown, Ludacris and Jay-Z.
He also founded Rush Communications, which became the corporate umbrella for a movie and television production house that produced Def Comedy Jam; a management firm; an ad agency; and his successful Phat Farm clothing line.
After selling his share in the company to Universal Music Group for $100 million in 1999, Simmons returned to the Def Jam fold last year in a joint venture with the Russell Simmons Music Group. He's also been active in political and social causes, founding the Hip-Hop Summit and participating in campaigns for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Kimora Lee was discovered in her teens and became a sought-after model thanks to her exotic good looks (her father is African-American, her mother, Japanese-American). She has become a hugely successful designer, with her Baby Phat clothing label. Additionally, Lee's a reality-TV personality, appearing on best friend Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model and her own VH1 series, Fabulosity, which is also the title of her first book, published last month by Regan Books.
She made the wrong kind of headlines in July 2004, when she was arrested in New Jersey after leading police on a two-mile chase. Lee Simmons was charged with marijuana possession and reckless driving and subsequently worked out a deal that resulted in six months' probation.