Akon has opened up about the way he practices polygamy and how it keeps his family functioning — even as his longtime marriage undergoes a major legal change.
During a recent appearance on the We Need to Talk podcast, the "I Wanna Love You" hitmaker confirmed that he currently has multiple wives, though he declined to reveal exactly how many. When pressed on the number, Akon laughed and said: "I'll just leave that to your imagination."
The conversation comes months after his wife of nearly three decades, Tomeka Thiam, filed for divorce in September 2025. Court documents cited irreconcilable differences and that Thiam wants joint legal custody of the couple's 17-year-old daughter, Journey, while requesting physical custody and spousal support.
Akon has not publicly addressed the divorce filing in detail, but he did use the podcast appearance to explain why he believes a multi-partner relationship can succeed.
According to the "Lonely" singer, the arrangement begins with a strict family hierarchy. Akon said his first wife occupies a position that every other partner or wife is expected to respect.
"That one is the reason you even got one, two, or three. She's the queen," he explained. "Nobody violates wife No. 1. The moment they violate, [they're] out the door."
Akon also acknowledged that the role comes with sacrifices. As new partners or wives enter the family, he said, the first wife is often the person tasked with navigating new personalities, viewpoints, and behaviors.
"With new people [joining] your family, there's going to be new attitudes, new mindsets, new behaviors," he said. "And the [first partner/wife has] to deal with that."
The artist further clarified that the dynamic he's involved in is not an open relationship, describing himself as "the only man" in the arrangement and said his wives are not permitted to have other romantic partners.
At the same time, he argued that the burden of maintaining the household falls primarily on him.
"Oftentimes when the family is united in that way, the benefit is more for the woman than it is for the man," he said. "Because the man actually has to take care of all of them."
Despite previously stating he's involved in a hierarchal dynamic, he added that in his relationship the man "has to treat [his partners/wives] all equally, and their responsibility bears on him as well."
For Akon, communication remains the foundation of the entire arrangement. He said every partner must be clear about their expectations and boundaries from the beginning and commit to following the rules once they're established.
"You got to be mature enough to know if this is the situation that I'm going to park in, I have to communicate," he said. "This I like, this I don't like. This I'm for, this I'm not for, and this is what I'm willing to deal with, this is what I'm not willing to deal with."
He added that the formula itself is straightforward. "Once y'all lay down those rules, just abide by them. It's literally that simple," he said.
It's worth noting that polygamy specifically refers to being married to more than one spouse — which Akon has declared he is. When it comes to multiple partners who are not legal spouses, polyamory is the term used, which means having multiple loving, romantic, or sexual relationships with the consent of all involved, regardless of marital or legal status.
