The blue carpet at the 2024 BET Awards was full of iconic dos and gawdy don’ts. Angela Simmons, the daughter of Hip-Hop mogul Rev Run Simmons, showed up and showed out on the carpet, but some viewers weren’t feeling her look.
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Simmons wore a sparkly emerald green dress with strappy heels and a cute up-do. What really caught the attention of viewers, however, was Simmons’ bedazzled purse resembling a hand gun. Clearly, the clutch was the star of the show, as Simmons repeatedly showed off the purse and even pointed it to paparazzi.
After receiving much backlash on social media for her theatrics on Sunday night, Simmons took to her Instagram to explain her intent.
“I made a poor decision in using it [the purse] as an accessory to amplify my beauty,” she wrote on her story. Simmons called her purse “inappropriate and insensitive” in light of ongoing gun violence in the country.
“I have personally lost my partner, the father of my child, to gun violence, and I have witnessed its devastating impact on my community,” she continued. In 2018, Simmons’s ex-fiance Sutton Tennyson was killed after being shot 13 times during an argument in Atlanta, according to TMZ. His killer is currently serving a life sentence in prison. The couple share an 8-year-old son, Sutton Joseph Jr.
Simmons also posted a video on Instagram saying she “just liked the bag” and didn’t think much about what it could represent or the possible backlash she could receive. She called it a “fashion moment.”
Simmons went on to apologize to anyone that was offended by her actions saying she has “always been about making peace a lifestyle” and will continue to promote nonviolence through advocacy.
It clearly wasn’t her best moment, but Simmons is asking the public for understanding and forgiveness. She ended her post saying “I will not allow it to define my moral compass or my commitment to promoting peace and ending gun violence.”
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