Venus & Serena Williams' father, Richard Williams, has been trying to divorce his third wife, Lakeisha, since filing back in 2017 [click here if you missed that].
Now the divorce proceedings have been dismissed...
From The Sun
LEGENDARY tennis coach "King Richard" Williams' bitter divorce from his ex-stripper wife has been dismissed by a judge this week.
The frail father of Serena and Venus has been trying for years to officially break ties with Lakeisha, who at 45 years old is nearly half his age.
Yet his health is on the wane after suffering from two strokes, memory loss, and the early onset of dementia, which has meant his son Chavoita Lesane has power of attorney.
Richard, 81, - who was immortalized by Will Smith in the Oscar-winning biopic King Richard - has always been defiant that he wants a divorce.
Yet, on Tuesday, in a dramatic twist to proceedings, the case was dismissed by Judge James Martz from the Palm Beach County family courts and is now officially closed.
Mystery surrounds as to why Richard hasn't continued with the divorce and whether his deteriorating health has played any part.
He has been trying to divorce Lakeisha ever since he found out she had allegedly faked his signature on the title deeds to “steal” his four-bed mansion in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which had been in the Williams family since 1995, according to court documents.
This resulted in Lakeisha taking out a $279k loan from “hard lender” David Simon, legal documents show, and she was accused in court of blowing the lot on a failed trucking business and “fast food and frivolities” - with Simon chasing her through the courts for the cash back.
The debt spiraled to $620k at one stage including legal fees and interest - and it now looks likely that she'll lose the $1.4M-valued home to pay Simon back.
Yet, in June last year, Lakeisha claimed that Richard was acting under duress from a third party and filed a motion for the divorce to be dismissed - a claim she repeated in January.
But Richard stood firm for a divorce - until now.
The U.S. Sun contacted Chavoita for clarification, who simply said: "I'm waiting for directions from my Dad on which way he wants to move forward."
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