Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
<p>In response to some online <a href="https://www.rhymeswithsnitch.com/2023/02/aoki-lee-simmons-responds-to-backlash.html#more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backlash</a> over her white beau, <a href="https://dev.theshaderoom.com/aoki-lee-calls-out-white-rap-fans-measly-tributes-to-takeoff-despite-consuming-his-music-black-artists-deserve-better/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aoki Lee Simmons</a> is clapping back and letting critics know what time it is!</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">A Valentine&#8217;s Day Post Sparked The Conversation</h3>
<p>The entire situation unfolded back on Valentine&#8217;s Day, as Aoki shared a photo that showed her romantically straddling a man while posing beside a picturesque harp.</p>
<p>She notably didn&#8217;t tag her boo, though she did caption the post with a simple heart emoji.</p>
<p><amp-instagram data-shortcode="Cop1HXgJIAP" layout="responsive" width="600" height="600" data-captioned></amp-instagram></p>
<p>After Aoki Lee Simmons shared her post, people instantly began chiming in. While many supported Aoki&#8217;s happiness, others expressed their disapproval over her cozying up with a white man.</p>
<p>Additionally, a quick scroll through the comment section shows that other people&#8217;s backlash is rooted in their speculation about him potentially being much older than Aoki.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">Aoki Responds To The Backlash, Says It&#8217;s &#8216;Truly Sad&#8217; But &#8216;Expected&#8217;</h3>
<p>Eventually, Aoki hopped on social media to acknowledge and shut down the online naysayers.</p>
<p>Through a now-expired Instagram Story upload, Simmons initially wrote that she wasn&#8217;t surprised by the backlash against her dating a white man, which she called &#8220;truly sad.&#8221;</p>
<p>In fact, she noted, &#8220;I knew the world was stuck in 1950 and would have some recessive [things] to say about something as simple as an interracial relationship.&#8221; Oop!</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I understand the public figure/you knew it was going to happen etc&#8230;argument. Sure I guess I knew the world was stuck in 1950 and would have some recessive [things] to say about something as simple as an interracial relationship&#8230;.. Like that&#8217;s truly sad, especially from people of color, but it was expected.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>In another upload, the 20-year-old Harvard student expressed that the criticism is &#8220;genuinely so awful.&#8221; She also questioned, &#8220;How is any young person supposed to have a normal well-adjusted life if this is what happens?&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s genuinely so awful. How is any young person supposed to have a normal well-adjusted life if this is what happens over a G*d*mn tagless Valentine&#8217;s Day post?!&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>She continued. calling the critics &#8220;just horrendously bitter and racist.&#8221; However, she was sure to also thank those who keep her mentions &#8220;mostly positive.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;And I had no idea because within my page it&#8217;s mild and mostly positive. (Thank you guys for that) but I guess outside of it the world, people I haven&#8217;t done anything to or harmed at all, are just horrendously bitter and racist.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Aoki wrapped her message by noting that, while she&#8217;s &#8220;an open person,&#8221; she&#8217;ll have to reevaluate what she shares on Instagram.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Anyway, I need to consider how/if I use this platform and what I share. Which sucks because I&#8217;m an open person but this can&#8217;t happen to people I care about.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>What do you think about Aoki Lee Simmons&#8217; response to the online backlash?</p>
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