Socialite Angela Simmons is pleading with fans for forgiveness for the flagrant faux pas of carrying a glistening gun-shaped purse to the BET Awards on Sunday, June 30.
The daughter of Rev. Run of the legendary rap group Run-DMC showed up on the red carpet in downtown Los Angeles draped in a strapless, figure-accentuating green dress and carrying a matching bedazzled purse that was shaped like a Glock pistol.
Simmons exacerbated the situation when she clutched the purse as if it were a semi-automatic firearm — and even thought it was cute to point it at photographers on the red carpet.
The immediacy and ferocity of the fan outrage prompted Simmons, 36, to try to explain herself to her eight million Instagram followers the following morning (Monday, June 1) with a video apology and written statement.
“I’m not like that, never been like that. I’m super … like, I’m not violent,” Simmons said in a video posted to her Instagram Story. “I’ve obviously been through a lot in my personal life when it comes to gun violence and it’s very personal to me. But, I just liked the bag and I thought that it was cool and I thought it was a fashion moment and that was it.”
She continued, “I didn’t have any intentions of ruffling anyone’s feathers, it seems like everyone — or a couple of people — are a little upset. But, I don’t mean no harm. I’m super, super peaceful and yeah, I’m sorry if it bothered anyone, but that’s not me; that’s just not how I am.”
The onslaught, however, was unrelenting. Fans highlighted how bad she made herself look when you consider that her former boyfriend and the father of her 6-year-old son, Sutton Tennyson, was shot and killed in the garage of his Atlanta home in 2018.
Angela Simmons writes a stronger apology the 2nd time around
Simmons later returned to IG to issue an actual apology instead of an explanation.
“I deeply regret that this item, which symbolizes a gun, was inappropriate and insensitive,” Simmons penned. “Especially given my personal and community experiences with gun violence.”
The girlfriend of rap mogul Gotti admits it was a “bad decision” and outlined how gun violence hit close to home for her.
“I have personally lost my partner, the father of my child, to gun violence,” Simmons said. “I have witnessed its devastating impact on my community in Southeast Queens.”
Finally, Simmons pleaded with her fans for grace now that she had the epiphany on the horrible optics of flashing a fake gun.
“I ask for your understanding and forgiveness,” she wrote in her mea culpa. “And I hope that you can accept my sincere apology. I will not allow it to define my moral compass or my commitment to promoting peace and ending gun violence.”
