Who is Serena Williams and Venus Williams' stepmother Lakeisha Williams and why has she been in the news lately?
Lakeisha Williams, the stepmother of Venus Williams and Serena Williams, has been in the news a lot lately.
She is the third wife of Richard Williams, who is the father of the Williams sisters. Williams split from Oracene Price and married Lakeisha, who was the owner of a grocery store, in 2009. This was seven years after he divorced Price, the mother of Venus and Serena Williams.
Lakeisha, who is 37 years younger than Richard Williams, shares a nine-year-old son, Dylan, with the former coach.
Lakeisha and Richard Williams filed for divorce in 2017 and have since been involved in a prolonged legal battle.
Lakeisha Williams files for bankruptcy to save family home in Florida
Lakeisha has filed for bankruptcy in the hopes of saving the Williams family home in Palm Beach, Florida, where Venus and Serena Williams grew up.
Richard Williams and Lakeisha moved into this house following their marriage in 2009. However, the latter's name came off the property's records in 2017 after Richard accused her of forging his signature to gain sole ownership of the house.
The divorce is yet to be finalized, with Lakeisha filing a motion to prevent it from going through. Her attorney Sara Lawrence wrote in court documents that Richard and Lakeisha Williams have reconciled and that there has not been much activity in the divorce proceedings since August 2019.
"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," Lawrence was quoted as writing by Daily Mail.
GSN- The move by Lakeisha Williams, 43, is another twist in the often bitter saga of her marriage to the 80-year-old former coach – including new divorce court papers revealed by DailyMail.com in which she claims they have reunited and enjoy regular steamy sex. https://t.co/23d3zXAsIh
Lawrence also revealed that Lakeisha needs Richard Williams to pay her legal fees due to his superior financial condition owing to Venus and Serena Williams' stardom.
"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," she wrote.
It will be interesting to see what further developments arise in this case in the upcoming weeks.