Los Angeles: Just a few days ahead of their 29th wedding anniversary, singer Akon’s wife Tomeka Thiam has filed for divorce from the musician.
Thaim filed for divorce from the star citing irreconcilable differences, according to the filing, reports people.com.
She listed their date of separation as “TBD,” and said they shared one child, 17-year-old daughter Journey.
Thaim requested joint legal custody of Journey, and requested she have physical custody of the teen and Akon, 52, get visitation. She also requested spousal support, and asked the court not to award the singer any spousal support.
The “Right Now” hitmaker, who made his Bollywood singing debut with the song “Chammak Challo” and “Criminal” in 2011 for the sci-fi film Ra.One, has previously said he believes in polygamy, and in a 2022 interview said that he has nine children. Musician Amirror claimed in 2023 that she was one of the star’s four wives.
“(Polygamy is) part of our culture. Absolutely,” Akon said in the interview back in 2022.
“For me, it looks normal, because it’s culture for us. We didn’t go outside of our African culture when we got to the Western world. See, the flaw that the Western world made is they created all these rules without putting nature into account.”
The “Smack That” singer said he was “there for” all nine of his children, and that he considered it his job “to raise my kids to be responsible, to be understanding” and to “protect their mother.”
“My job ain’t to be doing all that extra stuff and these holidays and recitals. While I’m taking care of my responsibility to make sure the family has a roof over their head and food, if I have the time to do that and show love, yes, I will do that,” he said.
“Communication allows me to be there every day. That’s what my FaceTime phone is for.”
Akon also said that he considers both marriage and dating to be “real relationship(s).”