American singer Akon may be singing the blues following his wife Tomeka Thiam’s decision to call it quits before their 29th wedding anniversary.
According to reports obtained by People, Thiam filed for divorce on Thursday, citing ‘irreconcilable difference,’
The rapper, 52, who caused a ruckus when he allegedly slapped a security guard during a performance in Russia, married Thiam on September 15, 1996 – meaning they were just four days away from celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary when Thiam filed to split.
Thiam has asked for joint legal custody and physical custody of their 17-year-old daughter and noted their date of separation was ‘TBD.’
She also requested that the court approves spousal support while requesting that Akon not be granted any financial support in return.
Akon, born Alioune Badara Thiam, has not yet responded publicly to the filing.
The situation seems to be complicated as the Right Now rapper, who is from Senegal, where polygamy is permitted, in total has nine children.
Amirah-Iman Thiam appears to be one of Akon’s wives, and after the divorce news dropped she posted a loved-up photo with the musical artist. The photo featured a diamond ring emoji and was poignantly soundtracked to the Gunna song ‘forever be mine’.
She has also released music, with Akon announcing last year: ‘‘The first lady of #konvictkulture @sincerelyamirror Drops her debut Album #REFLXNS.”
Akon said during a 2022 appearance on The Zeze Mills Show that polygamy is ‘part of our culture.’
”For me, it looks normal, because it’s culture for us,” he said. ”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.”