Kimora Lee Simmons had to sweeten the deal.
The model revealed that she had to make some extra promises in order to get her daughters Ming, 25, and Aoki, 23—who she shares with ex Russell Simmons—to appear in Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane.
"I had to bribe them," Kimora told E! News correspondent Will Marfuggi in an exclusive interview, quipping, "I don't think it's appropriate to bribe. I don't think it's normal."
As for what she had to bribe her eldest with? The 50-year-old—who is also mom to sons Kenzo, 16, with ex Djimon Hounsou, Gary, 15, with ex Tim Leissner, and Wolfe, 10, who she welcomed through adoption in 2020—admitted that her agreements included material goods like a "sports car" and a "wardrobe of fancy stuff that you have to wear to work."
"They took advantage," she quipped, "so it actually cost me more to do this production. My girls got paid more than everybody else. Everybody else worked for free. Well, me, I worked for free in order to pay."
And while they may have needed some convincing, Kimora insisted that her girls, who previously joined their mom on her late-aughts reality show Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane, are "excited" about the E! series now. After all, they both still spend a lot of time in their childhood home.
"They really haven't moved out and moved on," Kimora shared. "They do. They travel, they go around. They have their own places as well. But somehow they never really quite left the whole mess."
And the Baby Phat founder is equally as thrilled to step into this new chapter with her family. In fact, she believes having her five children—and their friends—appear on Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane adds some fresh perspective to the reality series, which originally ran for four seasons from 2007 to 2011.
"I'm now a mom of five, but I have a lot of other kids all around," Kimora explained. "I've changed jobs, careers a few times, husbands, investments. I acquired a bunch of stuff, gotten rid of a bunch of stuff. People are older. I am a boy mom. I was a girl mom. People have driver's licenses. People are having car wrecks."
She added, "It's life."
Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on E!. While you wait for new episodes, read on for a deeper look at Kimora's famous family...
Kimora Lee Simmons
In Kimora Lee Simmons' house, she's the mom, the dad, the president and the CFO.
"It's like The Brady Bunch," the runway fixture turned Baby Phat mogul joked of her blended family of seven in the Back in the Fab Lane trailer, "but with no husband."
And when it comes to her crew—she shares daughters Ming and Aoki with former husband Russell Simmons, son Kenzo with ex Djimon Hounsou, son Wolfe with estranged husband Tim Leissner, as well as son Gary and "bonus son" Jayden—"I'm really protective," Kimora told E! News in 2025. "Whatever they need, I'm there. Whatever's a problem, I'm there."
Ming Lee
Ming—the eldest of five siblings—was born on Jan. 21, 2000 to Kimora and her then-husband, hip hop music legend Russell Simmons.
Ming attended NYU and is currently following in her mom's footsteps by pursuing a career in modeling.
"I grew up on the runway, walking with my mom and sister at the end of every Baby Phat show during fashion week in New York," the founder of bodycare brand Boulangerie Beauty told W Magazine in October 2017. "I've been in ads with my mom and sister since I was 2 years old. I'm only now realizing how uncommon that is and I'm deeply appreciative of those experiences."
Aoki Lee
Kimora and Russell welcomed youngest daughter Aoki on Aug. 16, 2002.
In addition to modeling, Aoki has proved herself to be quite the intellectual. She was accepted to Harvard at just 16 and graduated from the prestigious university in 2023.
"I feel grateful, proud and relieved — in that order!" Aoki told People at the time. "It's a surreal feeling to be done with something that was such a huge part of my life. Now, like every other graduate, I'm on to the next chapter."
Kenzo
Kimora and former partner Djimon Hounsou are parents to Kenzo, born May 30, 2009, his name being "third and wise" in Japanese, as Kimora has shared.
Now a teenager and towering over his parents at 6-foot-9, Kenzo is a dual threat: A standout athlete on his high school's varsity basketball team, he also starred in a modeling campaign for clothing brand Eve.
Gary
With so much love to give, Kimora had been pondering adoption "for many years," she revealed to Us Weekly. And she was able to bring then-10-year-old Gary into the fold in 2020.
"We're a big group, a loud group," she explained to Us of the high school football player. "Everyone’s always screaming to me, 'Mom, mom help me do this, do that' all the time. 'Mom, mom, mom.' So he, in that sense, has blended right in."
Wolfe
Kimora welcomed her youngest, known as "Wolfie", into the pack on April 10, 2015.
"I can’t believe my BABY is 10!!!" she wrote in a 2025 Instagram tribute to her son with estranged husband Tim. "You make me so proud every single day, my smart, funny, silly boy!"
Jayden
While not Kimora's biological son, Kimora acts as mama to "bonus son" Jayden. Despite her already sizable brood, she explained during a December 2025 appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends that she serves as a "surrogate mom" to several other children.
"I have my kids, and then I have kids on the side," Kimora noted. "I'm a lot of people's mom."