(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

Yoga enthusiast Russell Simmons is trying to breathe through the downturn. He’s got “a bunch of money” tied up in a Lehman Brothers fund in London, but he’s not sweating it, he said at a screening of Madonna’s Filth and Wisdom on October 13. He said he checked in at first, but now, “I don’t worry about it.” Simmons senses hard times ahead. “I have lots of staff members,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone keeps getting fed.” And he’s concerned about the five charities he heads. So he’s leaning harder on friends like financier . “He’s really rich, but he says I’m the most expensive friend he has, and he’s not even sleeping with me,” Simmons said. He’s also trying to set a good personal example with his personal giving to organizations: “I’m not going to cut down on them so I can have another ride on a private plane.”

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Amy Odell
• Table of Contents: Oct 27, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!