Senegalse-American singer Akon has made a court filing in his divorce case with his estranged wife Tomeka Thiam, and it involves their 17-year-old daughter, Journey.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Thiam, in September, filed for divorce from Akon, whose real name is Aliaune Badara Thiam, just four days into what would have been their 29th wedding anniversary.
Akon, 52, recently responded to Thiam’s divorce filing, and he’s asking the court to grant him joint legal and physical custody of their daughter Journey, PEOPLE reported. Besides that, the Don’t Matter singer also wants the court to fully deny his estranged wife spousal support.
Thiam filed for divorce from the musician on September 11, citing irreconcilable differences, according to the filing cited by PEOPLE. She said they shared one child, 17-year-old daughter Journey, and listed their date of separation as “TBD.”
READ ALSO: $6 billion Akon City: Senegal officially scraps project
Thiam is seeking joint legal custody and sole physical custody of Journey, per the outlet. She is also seeking spousal support from the Lonely singer and has asked the court not to award him any spousal support.
Akon has said in the past that he believes in polygamy, adding that he has nine children.
“[Polygamy is] part of our culture. Absolutely,” Akon said in a 2022 interview on The Zeze Mills Show. “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.”
He stressed that he was “there for” all of his children, and that he believed it was 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.”
READ ALSO: Akon says African Americans should move past slavery: ‘You just gotta let it go’
