Kimora Lee Simmons Opens Up About Her Last Conversation With Tyra Banks

Kimora Lee Simmons just dropped a bit of a curveball about Tyra Banks: they have not spoken in a long time. Which is wild, considering Tyra is godmother to one of Kimora's kids and the two basically came up together in fashion. Also wild: Kimora says she was not asked to be in Netflix 's America’s Next Top Model documentary, even though she was there at the jump as a season 1 judge. She still watched it, and yeah, she says a lot of what people were talking about checks out.

What Kimora said, straight from her

"Tyra is one of my kids' godmothers, as well. Although we haven't talked in a very long time... We used to be very, very close. I started Top Model with her."

That was on the Tuesday, April 7 episode of the 'Aspire With Emma Grede' podcast. Kimora is 50; Tyra is 52.

The ANTM doc and why Kimora was not in it

Kimora says no one reached out to her to participate in Netflix's hit docuseries digging into America’s Next Top Model. For context, she was a judge on the very first season and part of the early DNA of the show. She still tuned in. Her takeaway was not subtle: a lot of what the doc highlighted as issues was accurate, and there were, in her words, "treacherous moments, with models." No hedging there.

How their friendship started (and why this distance stings)

Kimora and Tyra both started modeling as teenagers and got tight fast while working in Paris in the early 90s. Kimora reportedly asked for Tyra to be her roommate in a model house there. The dynamic back then, according to Tyra in a 2004 New York magazine interview, was very first-job-vs.-already-balled-up: "She always had the new Prada bag and would laugh at me because mine was from Wal-Mart."

As their careers split into different lanes, the bond held for a long time. Kimora has said she was one of the youngest to model for Chanel and then pivoted into designing and building brands. Tyra leaned into TV and production off the momentum of her modeling career. Naming Tyra as godmother to Kimora's daughter Ming in 2000 kind of underlines how close they were.

The part that makes you go, really?

Given all that history, the current radio silence is surprising. And the doc omission? Also surprising. If you were literally on the judges panel in season 1 and say you "started Top Model" with Tyra, you would think someone from production would pick up the phone. Apparently not.

Where life took them after the runway

• Kimora's family: She shares daughters Ming Lee Simmons (born 2000) and Aoki Lee Simmons with ex Russell Simmons; she later had son Kenzo with Djimon Hounsou in 2009 (they split in 2012); she married Tim Leissner in 2014 and welcomed son Wolfe in 2015; while married to Leissner, she adopted her son Gary. Kimora and Leissner split in 2022. That is five kids total.
• Tyra's family: She has a son, York, born via surrogacy with ex Erik Asla after dealing with fertility challenges.

Bottom line: Kimora says the friendship has been on ice for a while, she was not tapped for Netflix's ANTM deep dive, and what the doc showed lined up with what she remembers. For a pair who once roomed together in Paris and helped launch a reality juggernaut, that is a pretty stark update.