Recording artist Akon (Aliaune Thiam) faces the prospect of marital dissolution following the decision of his spouse, Tomeka Thiam, to commence divorce proceedings after nearly twenty-nine years of marriage.
According to court filings obtained by People, Ms. Thiam submitted a petition for dissolution of marriage on Thursday, citing irreconcilable differences as the grounds for divorce.
The parties were married on September 15, 1996, placing the filing date a mere four days prior to what would have been their twenty-ninth wedding anniversary.
Within her petition, Ms. Thiam has further requested joint legal and physical custody of the parties’ minor child, a seventeen-year-old daughter. The pleadings also identify the parties’ date of separation as “to be determined.”
Mr. Thiam, aged 52, has previously drawn media attention, including an incident abroad wherein he was alleged to have slapped a security guard during a performance in Russia.
Recording artist Akon (legal name: Aliaune Badara Thiam) is now facing additional legal and financial claims in the dissolution proceedings initiated by his wife, Tomeka Thiam, after nearly twenty-nine years of marriage.
In her petition for dissolution, Ms. Thiam seeks not only joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s seventeen-year-old daughter, but also an award of spousal support for herself. She has further requested that the court issue an order precluding Mr. Thiam from seeking spousal support from her.
Mr. Thiam, 52, has not yet filed a public response to the action, nor has a representative returned requests for comment.
The case is complicated by the fact that Mr. Thiam has publicly acknowledged practicing polygamy, a practice permitted in his native Senegal, where he has described it as part of his cultural and familial tradition. Reports indicate that he is the father of nine children, and that Amirah-Iman Thiam, who has been presented as one of his wives, publicly shared a photograph with him shortly after news of the divorce filing, captioned with a diamond ring emoji and accompanied by the song Forever Be Mine by Gunna.
Mr. Thiam has previously stated in interviews, including a 2022 appearance on The Zeze Mills Show, that polygamy “looks normal” to him as it aligns with his cultural background, contrasting it with what he views as restrictive marital norms in Western societies.
Outside his personal life, Mr. Thiam has faced recent professional and financial setbacks. In July, he formally abandoned his high-profile plans for a multi-billion-dollar development in Senegal—originally envisioned as a futuristic, Wakanda-inspired city powered entirely by renewable energy and cryptocurrency. The project stalled amid financing issues, construction delays, and ongoing legal disputes.
Internationally recognized since the 2004 release of his debut album, which produced several Top 10 singles including Locked Up, Mr. Thiam’s recent career has been less commercially prominent, with later singles failing to match his earlier success.#newsafro_
