Key Takeaways
- Kimora Lee opens up about her rise from teenage Chanel model to Baby Phat mogul—and the darker chapters behind the glamour—in Lifetime’s Kimora Lee: On Her Own, declaring, “I’ve seen the monsters.”
- The documentary explores her contentious history with Russell Simmons, her decision to drop his surname, and her focus on motherhood, ownership, and protecting her legacy.
- The film also arrives as Tim Leissner seeks a divorce while serving prison time for the 1MDB scandal; it premieres September 20 at 8 p.m. ET.
Kimora Lee is putting some of the most complicated chapters of her life on camera.
The Baby Phat founder is the subject of a new Lifetime documentary, Kimora Lee: On Her Own, which traces her path from teenage fashion phenom to mogul and mother while exploring the personal and legal turmoil that has followed her. In the first trailer, which People obtained, Lee makes it clear that the glamorous version of her story is only part of it.
“Here’s the thing about my life,” Lee says as archival modeling footage rolls. “It was glamorous. I was the youngest model in the history of Chanel.” Moments later, the tone changes dramatically: “I’ve seen the monsters.”
That contrast runs through a life that started moving extraordinarily fast while Lee was still a teenager. She entered the modeling world at 13 and became closely associated with Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel before eventually moving from the runway into business.
Baby Phat, the label she developed into a defining fashion brand of the early 2000s, helped turn her into a household name beyond modeling.
Her personal life was unfolding just as publicly. Lee met Russell Simmons when she was 16, and he was in his 30s. They later married in 1998, had daughters Ming and Aoki, and worked together as Baby Phat grew.
The marriage ended in divorce in 2009, and their relationship has remained contentious. Simmons has faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied, and later sued Lee over a dispute involving Celsius stock.
“It’s been a painful ride,” Lee says in the documentary trailer. Another scene finds her crying as she says, “I’m just asking that you leave us alone.”
The documentary arrives during another period of major change for Lee. She recently legally dropped Simmons from her name, returning to Kimora Lee. Her representative said the change is “rooted in a commitment to clarity and ownership” and that Lee is focused on “protecting her family, building a legacy, and moving forward with grace and power.”
That emphasis on ownership also echoes comments Lee recently made while revisiting her fashion career with Refinery29. She stressed her hands-on role in Baby Phat, saying, “I went to work every day. I made these clothes. I made this collection. I worked with my designers.”
Looking back at what the brand became, she added, “What we created … was a lifestyle. It was a movement.”
Meanwhile, her other marriage is formally ending. Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner filed for divorce from Lee earlier this year, seeking spousal support and asking that she pay his legal fees. Leissner, with whom Lee shares son Wolfe, is currently serving a two-year federal prison sentence stemming from his role in the massive 1MDB financial scandal. The couple had reportedly been estranged since at least 2022.
On Her Own now brings those pieces together under a title that mirrors where Lee says she is today.
“When life gives you coal,” she says at the end of the trailer, “press it into a diamond.”
Kimora Lee: On Her Own premieres September 20 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
