RHOD: Inside D'Andra Simmons' Rocky Relationship With Her Mom
The Real Housewives of Dallas fans have watched the up and down relationship D'Andra Simmons has with her mother Dee Simmons. The tension between the mother-daughter duo became evident after D'Andra took over the family business, Bravo reported. After inheriting the family's nutrition line, Ultimate Living, and skincare line, Hard Night Good Morning, D'Andra was blindsided when she learned about the financial ruin the businesses were in prior to her coming on board. Her main issue, of course, was that her mother knew about the company's dire financial standing prior and opted not to tell her daughter beforehand.
"Last year when I signed the company over to D'Andra, I knew that financially the company was not at the high peak like it had been, and I wanted to see if D'Andra could turn the company around," Mama Dee explained to producers. During a September 2019 appearance on The Daily Dish, D'Andra explained how left in the dark she was about the company's money issues. "No, I still don't know why she didn't let me see the numbers and why she kept that information from me," the RHOD star shared. "That's a question I don't think I'll ever have the answer to."
Mama Dee's actions became more questionable when she refused to provide D'Andra with any financial assistance. The move not only affected the family business, but it also put D'Andra in a financial bind, making her unable to access her trust fund until after her mother passes away — unless Mama Dee decides otherwise.
Did Dee Simmons set her daughter D'Andra Simmons up for failure?
During an October 2019 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, D'Andra Simmons opened up about why she was left in the dark about the financial status of the family business prior to coming onboard. "Because my mother says that my father said, 'Don't ever show her the books,'" D'Andra explained to Cohen. "Well, when he passed away, she kept on with that understanding that they had."
Dee Simmons called into WWHL to clear the air about speculation that she set her daughter up for failure by allowing her to inherit the failing business. "I'm over here counting my money right now," Mama Dee shadily said in reference to her daughter's money problems. "I'd say I don't really give a rip," she said in response to fans who think she purposely gave her daughter the financially unstable company. "Mama Dee didn't do that," she added. "I would never do that to my daughter."
After slashing her salary by $100k and reluctantly firing some longtime employees, D'Andra expressed her hopefulness for the company's future. "We have a lot of good things happening with the business right now that I can't talk about," the RHOD star told The Daily Dish in September 2019, Bravo reported. "I mean, amazing things. So it's really turned around in the last seven months." Hopefully things have turned around with her mom, as well.