Akon seeks joint custody of daughter

Akon has filed a response to Tomeka Thaim’s divorce petition and is seeking joint custody of their 17-year-old daughter Journey.

Akon is seeking joint custody of his daughter.

The Lonely hitmaker’s wife Tomeka Thaim filed for divorce in September, just days before their 29th wedding anniversary, and while she requested sole legal custody and physical custody of 17-year-old Journey, with Akon getting visitation in her filing, the 52-year-old rapper has requested both legal and physical care of the teenager are shared.

According to court documents obtained by People magazine, Akon – whose real name is Aliaune Badara Thiam – asked the court not to award Tomeka any spousal support.

In her own filing, Tomeka sought spousal support but asked the court not to award any to Akon.

The Smack That hitmaker has previously said he believes in polygamy and revealed in 2022 that he has nine children.

Speaking on The Zeze Mills Show, he said: “[Polygamy is] part of our culture. Absolutely.

“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 insisted he was “there for” all of his kids” and views it as his job to raise children “to be responsible, to be understanding”, and to “protect their mother”.

He added: “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.

“Communication allows me to be there every day. That’s what my FaceTime phone is for.”

Akon believes marriage and dating are both “real relationships”.

Singer Amirror previously claimed she is one of Akon’s four wives, and that they all live in different places, including Atlanta, Los Angeles and Africa.

She told Rie Wit the Tea in 2023: “We all have different households, we all have different lifestyles.

“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.”