‘His Son Isn’t Wrong’: DMX’s Eldest Son Accuses His Fiancée of Excluding His ‘Original Family’ Before Tense Face-Off on Stage
It’s been five years since rapper DMX died at age 50 of a cocaine-induced heart attack, but his legacy lives on.
The rapper, who signed with Ruff Ryders Entertainment in 1991, sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide. He earned four Grammy nominations and won a Soul Train Award.
But despite the enormous legacy DMX left behind, ongoing family disputes have made it difficult for this family and loved ones to find peace.
Even celebrations to honor the rapper’s life have been overshadowed by his grueling family tension.
On June 12, DMX’s hometown of Yonkers, New York, honored the late rapper by renaming a street Earl “DMX” Simmons Way.
What began as a celebration of DMX’s legacy quickly turned tense when his eldest son, Xavier Simmons, took the stage.
Xavier confronted the rapper’s former fiancée, Desiree Lindstrom, during the ceremony.
Xavier grabbed the mic, making a bold claim about the exclusion of his family since his dad passed.
“There is absolutely no way that you will close this ceremony, and we will not hear from his original entire family,” said Xavier.
He then called his mother, Tashera Simmons, to the stage first, and invited his siblings Shawn Simmons, Praise Simmons, and Tacoma Simmons up as well.
DMX and Tashera welcomed all four children during their relationship. The couple started dating at 17 and spent 15 years married after tying the knot in 1999.
Tashera witnessed DMX’s meteoric rise to fame firsthand. She helped keep him grounded, stood by him through his struggles with addiction, and served as his trusted confidante behind the scenes.
After thanking the crowd for showing up for his dad, Xavier turned his attention to Lindstrom and condemned her for attempting to exclude them from events honoring their father.
“To Desiree Lindstrom. You have behaved dishonorably. The fact that you continue to exclude his original family, his children, my mother —” he said before the mic cut out.
Tashera and X’s son continued speaking loudly to the crowd, saying, “The fact that my mother and father built this empire from the ground up – like this city loves us. We will always be remembered in this city.”
Lindstrom and another woman walked up to the stage to confront Tashera. The atmosphere turned chaotic within seconds as people swarmed around them, though no one made a move.
However, Xavier quickly added, “Now, thank you, to the city of Yonkers and thank you for being here today.”
His stance was likely in response to Lindstrom’s earlier remarks. She failed to mention DMX’s ex-wife or his 15-alleged children from other relationships.
“And to Earl’s children, family, friends, and fans, thank you for showing up and showing up for him today. I know he’s feeling all the love in heaven right now,” Lindstrom said in her original speech.
“See, I’m not originally from Yonkers, but Earl brought me here because, to him, this was always home, and it quickly became mine too,” she shared. “I’ve been welcomed and embraced by the community, and I’ve especially felt the love and support over the last five years. It truly means a lot to me.”
Lindstrom shares 9-year-old son Exodus with DMX. During the event, she announced that she and DMX’s daughter, Sasha Simmons, serve as co-administrators of his estate.
Tashera later took to her social media page to share more about why her son addressed Lindstrom in that way.
“Did my son expose these devils? They’ve been exposed,” she said, chuckling. “Y’all know DMX, y’all know Tashera. We built the DMX legacy together. There is no X without Tashera. The fact that they came to my hometown and did not want us to be recognized. I’mma let y’all sit with that one.”
(@desi123love)Lindstrom began dating DMX around 2011 and accepted his marriage proposal in 2021. She has not publicly responded to his ex-wife.
But fans online responded to the drama, pointing out where things went wrong.
Blaming at Lindstrom, one person said, “Her mentioning his estate showed her character and the son was not wrong.”
Another person claimed, “His son isn’t wrong. How tf can you have something in his father’s honor and not include ALL of his kids? Tashera had enough respect to include the fiancé and her son when she spoke at X funeral though. The fiancé was wrong.”
Someone else who seems to be familiar with Tashera and DMX’s background wrote, “She stayed with that man through everything. After what he did to her, she loved that man.”
Tashera has accused DMX of verbal abuse. Fans witnessed some of their turmoil during their 2012 appearance on “Couples Therapy,” where he repeatedly yelled at her.
Many of their arguments centered on his infidelity. DMX fathered at least six children outside their marriage and ultimately had 15 confirmed children with nine women. Tashera filed for divorce in 2013.
In the past, DMX’s ex-wife has made sure to include Lindstrom in speeches that were about X.
At his funeral in April 2021, Tashera said, “As I close, I am going to recognize Desiree because from day one, real women do real things. I’m a real woman and I’m a woman of God. That woman is a woman of God.”
She continued, saying that because Lindstrom loved DMX, she loves Lindstrom too.
Following DMX’s death, his eldest sons — Xavier, Shawn, and Tacoma — took over as temporary co-administrators of his estate.
A court suspended them from those roles in 2024 for undisclosed reasons. Lindstrom and Sasha now oversee the estate.
In 2025, Tashera filed a claim to get 50 percent of the stake in DMX’s intellectual property and music catalog, but a New York judge ruled against it, deciding she would only get 50 percent of royalties — not ownership. The estate is the sole owner of the IPs, trademarks, and copyrights.