Black Celebrity Men

After reading Djimon (pronounced Jy-mon...I am so mad I've been pronouncing his name as Digi-mon this whole time!) and Kimora's intimate interview in Ebony magazine's February 2010 issue, they are becoming one of my favorite black celebrity couples. The couple, who still haven't secured a formal marriage license in America but instead had a commitment ceremony in Djimon's native home of Benin, West Africa, discussed the night they met at Prince's Academy Awards after party in 2007, their children (Kimora's daughters Ming and Aoki call him Baba, an endearing name that means Dad) and Kimora's ex-husband Russell Simmons. Djimon says he couldn't believe how down-to-earth Kimora was and that she completely erased his initial impression of her, replacing a stereotype with a picture of a woman who cared most about her daughters, her family and her business. "She's more in touch with herself and with life than most women I've been with. I look up to her." How sweet is he? And Kimora admits that since being with Djimon, she has matured greatly. It doesn't hurt that Ming and Aoki adore him as much as their mom. Read excerpts from the interview below.

DJIMON ON THE NIGHT THEY MET: "She turned around and said, 'Hi, my name is Kimora Lee,' and I said 'Right, you don't need to introduce yourself. I am quite aware of who you are.'...We were having a deep conversation about our families, about kids, about this and that...And then the eyes meet....and I realized, there's so much more to her. I never thought she would be as grounded as she seemed that night...As I was giving her my number, I said, 'Well, I hope you would enjoy the number for something other than your fashion shows or get-togethers or parties...First thing in the morning, I sent her a text. I wanted to catch her because she was to leave and go back to New York. I wanted to get, as we say, a good conversation in before she took off. I sent a text and said, 'Hey, if you are up for dinner...' And that's how we started it. I said to her, 'You're one very successful woman. You have it great. You have two kids. You are married to one of the most iconic men in the world (Kimora and Russell were separated before she and Djimon met). What else could you need? Or want?' I was much more skeptical of where she was coming from than I was about what I had to offer. I realized that she was looking for a great foundation as far as relationships are concerned and that really hit me.

No woman has ever made me feel the way she makes me feel. She makes me dream big."


KIMORA ON DJIMON: "He's just different. I can't explain it. If you meet Djimon, to know his personality and his sentiment. (she sighs) I don't know. He's just different spiritually. I just never would have thought a life could be possible like this. Me and Djimon can be in a room full of people or we can be in a room alone and we maintain a connection. I feel like he's my long-lost friend. Something about him is really nourishing for my soul and makes me very happy. I don't feel like I'm keeping up with any Joneses. I don't feel like my hair or my clothes have to be a certain way. I don't feel like I need anything. I feel like I'm more than a complete person, Djimon really completes me. I feel like my life has fallen into the right place in a great way. I've been very slow and deliberate, and I feel like it has paid off for me in ways that I could not have imagined."

KIMORA ON HER & RUSSELL'S BREAK-UP: "Russell and I had a great relationship....but I think coping with or adjusting to my life, which was becoming very big and very busy was tough for him. When you get older, when you get wiser, when you get busier, when you start to create a career for yourself, a life for yourself, I think that certain issues or topics or indiscretions or whatever you want to call them are not going to be OK as when you were a teenager in love. Nothing's the same when you hit that mid-20s, late-20s stage. And when you're in your 30s, you kind of know what you want for yourself. I felt like I owed it to myself and to my children to obtain the best life possible. People may have thought the break-up was because my personality is so much bigger than life. I'm loud. I'm over the top, whatever. I'm a family girl with children, and that's really the goal and the life I want for myself. I have everything a girl could ever want. I have everything that you could buy. I have every diamond in ever color. That's not important to me now. I have it all and I could do fine without it. And that's what's important to know.

I cannot say that Russell wants something different, but I want different in a partner. I expect different in a partner. I expect an equal playing field when it comes to matters of family and raising children."

MORE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES OF DJIMON & HIS FAMILY + EXCERPTS WHEN YOU CLICK THE LINK BELOW!

Black Celebrity Men Byron Allen and Russell Simmons were recently spotted with their frolicking on the beach with their assorted Beckys. While Byron and his pregnant wife Jennifer (they also have a little girl named Chloe) enjoyed a stroll on the beaches of Hawaii over the holidays.....

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Russell Simmons was spotted with his female friends on the beaches of St. Barts. A couple of weeks ago the paparazzi found him strutting his old man stuff on the beaches of Miami!

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Media mogul Russell Simmons has snagged himself a new reality show with the Oxygen Network. The show, titled 'The Russell Simmons Project' will reportedly revolve around the various women in his life including the 'female assistants who manage his business deals, family life, party planning and love life', or so they say. Russell says, "Throughout my career I have surrounded myself with people smarter than me. This show will let them shine and provide insight into how we build our empire from the inside out."

No word yet on when the show will air.

In other Russell Simmons news, he blogged and bitched about the New York Post making a slick and snide comment that suggested that his two daughters, Ming Lee, 9, and Aoki, 6, preferred mother, Kimora Lee Simmons's new husband, Djimon Honsou, over their biological dad based on an observation during the Baby Phat Fashion show. Simmons wrote:

"...the blurb in the NY Post that dug a hole. The Post managed to do what the others didn't...they got under my skin, found a raw nerve, hit it and actually hurt me. They reported that my beautiful daughters, after their mother's fashion show, "went straight up to Djimon Hounsou and gave him a hug, bypassing biological dad Russell." I'm sorry but targeting my family, my kids who I love so very much and trying to suggest there is some underlying jealousy, favoritism or lack of love between my kids and I or any of that is low and extra dirty."

Simmons continues by complimenting Honsou.

"Djimon is a great father and stepfather for my kids. And I try to be a good father that's the reality. The NY Post tried to take an arrow to my heart and hit me where any father would feel the most pain, and at least for a moment, they succeeded. Sorry to tell the Post and the other sites that picked up this story, that there is NO story here to tell. My girls went and hugged and kissed both Djimon and myself, criscrossing us equally at the same time. He and I are family. I even tell my lovely daughters they are lucky to have two fathers. It saddens me to know that so many people are comfortable making a living by selling pain."

Now I have to say, that throughout Kimora and Djimon's courtship, I have heard Russell say nothing but nice things about Djimon. And that says alot when you consider the fact that Kimora and Russell were still legally married (but separated) when she and Djimon hooked up. ......