Akon’s 29-year marriage is heading for a crash as his wife files for divorce

International music star Aliaume Akon Thiam, popularly known as Akon, is set to lose his 29-year-old marriage after his wife, Tomeka Thiam, filed for divorce earlier this week.

According to reports, Tomeka cited irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce in court documents filed in Fulton County, Georgia, on September 11, 2025.

Court documents show that Tomeka is seeking joint custody of their child together 17-year-old daughter, Journey, but asked the court to grant her primary physical custody, with visitation rights for Akon.

She also requested spousal support as part of her divorce filing from the musician and asked the court not to award the ‘Lonely’ singer any spousal support.

The couple is yet to publicly comment on the divorce since reports of its filing broke.

According to People, Akon, 51, had previously talked publicly about his belief in polygamy. In a 2022 interview on ‘The Zeze Mills Show,’ he revealed that he has nine children.

Associating his belief in polygamy with his cultural heritage as an African, the Senegalese-born American singer described the practice as normal.

He explained that polygamy is natural within his background, saying it 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.”

Although Akon had also admitted in the past that he falls short in being physically present for his family, he often speaks about how he struggles to balance family responsibilities with his demanding career.

“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 explained.

Akon, however, credits technology for helping him stay connected with his children despite his busy schedule.

He said, “Me showing up for my children is me being there for them financially. I’m there if I’m around. But it’s impossible to be everywhere and every place. And technology allows me to be there every day, FaceTime and other methods.”

Akon, a prominent figure in the music world, rose to fame in 2004 with the release of his hit single ‘Locked Up.’ Some of his other hit songs include ‘Smack That’ and ‘Don’t Matter.’