Akon Responds To Estranged Wife's Request In Divorce Filing

Akon has an answer for his estranged wife's spousal support request.

The rapper and Tomeka Thiam are currently in court for a dissolution of their marriage, and he intends to put his money where his mouth is by completely avoiding spousal support payments.

Akon's estranged wife, Tomeka Thiam, filed for divorce in September, four days shy of their 29th wedding anniversary, due to irreconcilable differences.

The songwriter ticked the box for the court to terminate spousal support for Tomeka after she had made a request for spousal support in her divorce filing. 

She also ticked the box for the court to terminate the award of spousal support for Akon from her end. The rapper filed the response on Friday in an LA Superior Court and also requested joint physical custody of the 17-year-old child they share.

As for Tomeka, TMZ reported that she wants full physical custody of their child alongside joint legal custody. Akon and his estranged wife tied the knot in 1996 and welcomed their only daughter, Journey, in 2007.

Akon's divorce may reportedly take a messier route due to his unconventional family life induced by his preference for polygamy. According to The Blast, Akon had repeatedly emphasized that he had no problems with polygamy since it is practiced in his home country of Senegal.

"For me, it looks normal, because it's a 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 singer declared.

The rapper is currently a father to nine children with multiple women, and since the U.S. law does not recognize polygamy, it may become dicey to divide assets and custody as the case continues.

Despite the ongoing turmoil in his personal life, the rapper's treasury has experienced a surge, boosting his net worth to a whopping $50 million this year alone. While Akon has not released any major music project for a few years now, he has continued amassing wealth through royalties and other businesses.

It has been a long way coming for the Konvict Muzik and KonLive Distribution record label boss, who was worth about $20 million in 2009, around the height of his career. 

His label propelled artists like Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani to fame and established him as a force to be reckoned with in the pop and R&B world.

Aside from music, Akon has also explored other areas of the hustle like diamond mines, fashion, and tech projects, including the proposed construction of a $6 billion smart city in his home country of Senegal.

Akon was seized by cops in DeKalb County last week over a suspended license discovered by an officer during a check when his vehicle broke down due to a dead battery.

As reported by The Blast, his arrest was prompted by an active warrant that had been out for him since September 10. The warrant was acquired from Roswell in Fulton County, Georgia, and was described as an out-of-county warrant. 

A police officer had issued a citation for the rapper in September upon discovering that he had a problem with his license due to his failure to show up for a court hearing in 2023. Akon was eventually arrested and kept in custody for six hours, including posing for a mugshot while dressed in an all-black hoodie.

The businessman experienced a tragic loss four years ago when his SUV was stolen right in front of a gas station while he was pumping. The incident reportedly happened at a Buckhead, Georgia, gas station.

However, Akon was able to use some features on his phone to locate the stolen vehicle, whose location was pinned to some spots close to Forest Park, Georgia. The theft coincided with a very recent development in the legislative arm of the Atlanta City Council at the time.

The council was advised to instruct all gas stations to install cameras on each side of their fuel pumps as stealing had become a "common occurrence." A councilwoman added, "It is not an anomaly. It is a significant enough crime and a consistent enough crime that it warrants this intervention."

Will this response from Akon lead to even more drama?