Who is Venus and Serena Williams' stepmother? Lakeisha Williams asks judge to STOP divorce from Richard
Soon after Will Smith won the Best Lead Actor award for his portrayal of Serena and Venus Williams' father in 'King Richard', the tennis superstars' stepmother is trying halt her divorce from their father. Lakeisha Williams, 43, also claimed that she and Richard, a father-of-nine, are enjoying a great sex life. Richard has suffered a number of strokes over the past six years.
"The wife believes that the parties have reconciled and have engaged in an active marital life including having regular weekly sexual relations including but not limited to on January 9, 2022, the night before filing this motion," the Daily Mail quoted Lakeisha's attorney Sara Lawrence as saying in court papers. Lakeisha has insisted that her marriage is not irretrievably broken, and has asked a judge in Palm Beach, Florida, to stop the divorce.
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"The husband is the father of Venus and Serena Williams and the financial condition of the parties' finances are quite complicated regarding income earned and/or receipt/payment of regular support income from Serena and/or Venus Williams for their father," attorney Lawrence wrote. "In December 2021 a movie was released titled King Richard which is the biographical rendition of…Richard Williams's efforts to encourage and have his daughters become professional tennis superstars. No financial information has been forthcoming."
Who is Lakeisha Williams, Venus and Serena Williams' stepmom?
Richard, 80, married Lakeisha, who is his third wife and 37 years younger than him, seven years after he divorced Oracene Price, Venus and Serena's mother. Lakeisha and Richard split in 2017, and have a nine-year-old son, Dylan. Lakeisha is only a year older than Venus.
Born in 1979, Lakeisha, an entrepreneur, owned a grocery store in Fort Lauderdale while she was already living with Richard in 2009, before their marriage. The couple married in 2010 at the county courthouse on PGA Boulevard. Richard had later claimed that Lakeisha used his social security checks without his knowledge and forged his signature so she could sell his 1999 Bluebird Wanderlodge Motor Coach worth $45,000. Lakeisha claimed that she did so only to buy food for herself and her son. Richard also accused her of becoming an alcoholic. "Mainly, I was broke by my husband (who) did not help me. It was my son and I not getting any money, so I had to sell it so I can eat and my son can eat… we didn't have anything," Lakeisha had said.
Lakeisha has now claimed that she and Richard have been back together since August 2019 and there has been "no discovery, no mediation and no real activity" in the divorce proceedings ever since. She added that they are raising their son together. The court papers say, "The case is not ready for final hearing and during the period of dormancy, the parties have been raising their son now age 9 years old and whose needs have changed drastically since the filing of this matter in 2017 when the child was 5 years old."
The divorce was due to be finalized on January 12. However, Judge James Martz later set a decision date in June. "The parties have not complied with any of the requirements, including but not limited to not attending pretrial mediation or any mediation of any kind," he wrote. "The parties failed to comply with time requirements for designation of witnesses or exhibits."
However, despite her efforts at stopping the divorce, Lakeisha is still trying to get Richard to cover her legal costs because of his daughters. She has requested that he fork over her attorney's fees. "The wife has a need for the husband to pay these fees as he has a superior ability to pay from the regular and steady reimbursement of his expenses by his famous and very rich daughters Serena and Venus Williams," the attorney wrote.
Lakeisha had earlier claimed in court filings that Richard would drive through poor neighborhoods with her in an attempt to look at other women. "Mr. Williams loved – he loves poor neighborhoods. He did like to drive. He likes to take me downtown Los Angeles," she had said. "He always like to take me to neighborhoods, where, you know, there was black women, because he likes women."
Richard has been staying with his son, 49-year-old music producer Chavoita LeSane. LeSane has claimed that his father condemned Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars. "We don't condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it's in self-defense,' said LeSane."
