Akon has officially responded to his estranged wife’s divorce petition. According to court documents, Akon, whose full name is Aliaune Badara Thiam, filed a response following the divorce request submitted by his estranged wife, Tomeka Thiam, in September.
In his filing, Akon is seeking joint legal and physical custody of their 17-year-old daughter, Journey. He is also requesting that the court deny any spousal support to his estranged wife.
Tomeka had initially requested sole legal custody and physical custody of their daughter, proposing that Akon receive visitation rights. At the same time, she sought spousal support while asking the court not to grant any spousal support to the “Smack That” singer.
Akon and Tomeka were married in 1996. Her divorce filing came just four days before what would have marked their 29th wedding anniversary.
In past interviews, Akon has openly discussed his belief in polygamy. During a 2022 appearance on The Zeze Mills Show, he revealed that he has nine children, while musician Amirror alleged in 2023 that she was one of the singer’s four wives.
“[Polygamy is] part of our culture. Absolutely,” Akon told Zeze Millz. “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.”
Akon also emphasized his commitment to all nine of his children, explaining that his role is “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.”
In an interview with Rie Wit the Tea, Amirror discussed the dynamics among Akon’s wives, noting that they live in different locations including Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Africa.
“We all have different households, we all have different lifestyles,” she said. “We don’t have to see each other so we don’t have to be cool with each other… Akon is the type of man [where] it’s not manipulation, it’s just, if you f— with it [or] you don’t. This is our culture… Every woman wants to be the only one, and it’s okay.”