Tomeka Thiam, the wife of global music superstar Akon, has officially petitioned for divorce from their marriage. The filing was submitted a mere seventy-two hours before the couple were due to mark their twenty-eighth wedding anniversary, bringing a nearly thirty-year union to a sudden and dramatic end.
The court documents, obtained by media outlets, list the reason for the split as ‘irreconcilable differences’. Within the filing, Thiam has put forward requests concerning both their children and financial arrangements, signalling the start of a potentially complex legal process.
Akon’s Wife Files For Divorce After 28 Years Of Marriage
A central element of Thiam’s petition concerns the couple’s youngest child. She is seeking sole physical custody of their seventeen-year-old daughter, while proposing that she and Akon share joint legal custody. Furthermore, Thiam has formally requested spousal support from the ‘Smack That’ singer. In a strategic legal manoeuvre, she has also asked the court to reserve the right to award her additional support from the multi-millionaire artist at a later date, should it be deemed necessary.
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The case pulls back the curtain on the intensely private domestic life of the Senegalese-American artist, which has long been a subject of rumour and intrigue. For years, the singer has been dogged by speculation regarding his adherence to cultural practices, including unconfirmed reports of polygamy and claims that he is a father to as many as nine children.
A Private Life No More
Despite the gravity of the legal action, the split has been met with a wall of public silence from both parties. Neither Akon, born Aliaune Thiam, nor Tomeka Thiam have made any reference to the divorce proceedings on their personal social media channels. This silence has left fans and commentators to speculate on the details behind the irreconcilable breakdown of one of the music industry’s most enduring marriages.
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The pair wed in 1996, long before Akon’s meteoric rise to fame with albums like ‘Trouble’ and ‘Konvicted’. His success has since expanded beyond music into immense business ventures, including his ambitious Akon City project in Senegal, estimated to be worth billions of US Dollars (over ZAR 150 billion).