Who is Lakeisha Graham?
Although a businesswoman and entrepreneur, Lakeisha Graham rose to public prominence as the wife of the famous tennis coach, Richard Williams, whose life was an inspiration for the Oscar-awarded (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role) biographical drama “King Richard”, starring Will Smith.
Early life, education, and career
Lakeisha is only known as a celebrity wife, so there isn’t much information about her life before she married Richard Williams. It’s known that she was born on 5 December 1979, in Austin, Texas USA, which makes her 42 years old, and is of African-American.
It is believed that she was raised by her parents, about whom nothing is known, nor is there any information regarding siblings. Speaking of her educational background, she is a high school graduate.
According to reports, Lakeisha is currently the owner of a small grocery store, and lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA.
Marriage with Richard Williams
Lakeisha and Richard met in 2009; they haven’t revealed how they began dating, however, they married just a year later – Lakeisha is Richard’s third wife. When they exchanged their wedding vows, Lakeisha was 31 years old, and Richard 69.
In 2012, she gave birth to their son, Dylan, and Richard stated that he asked for a DNA test to check if he is the baby’s biological father, and the test showed that Dylan is his son.
Lakeisha, Richard and their son were often seen together at various tennis games supporting Dylan’s sisters, Venus and Serena. Richard once stated that he doesn’t want Dylan playing tennis, adding that he has other plans for him. Perhaps you didn’t know the fact that he wrote an 85-page plan for turning his daughters into tennis stars.
Se agranda la familia Williams. Durante el UsOpen Richard fue papá (70) junto a su esposa Lakeisha Graham, de 33 años. pic.twitter.com/MFTvYjhv
— Marcos Zugasti (@marcos_z) October 2, 2012
Divorce
Lakeisha and Richard separated in 2016, and Richard filed for divorce, however, that wasn’t the end of their story. According to court documents, Lakeisha accused Serena of telling her to leave the family home, and that she would change the locks. Lakeisha also accused Richard of owning a weapons arsenal, and claimed that he drives through poor neighborhoods to watch the woman.
Richard said that the main reason for their separation was that he believed that Lakeisha married him just for the money he had. He accused her of forging his signature when she attempted to transfer the property in West Palm Beach, Florida into her name, without his knowledge.
Lakeisha admitted that she imitated his handwriting but as she said, Richard asked her to do that since he was ill, adding that the mortgage was notarized and witnessed at a loan company. She took a loan of $279,000 but it seems that she blew the money on a failed trucking business. Lakeisha has twice filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
Their divorce is still an ongoing process. In March 2022, Lakeisha petitioned the court to cancel the divorce, claimed that they were living together since 2019, and raising their son. Perhaps worth mentioning is that Richard suffers from dementia, that he suffered a stroke, and that Lakeisha claimed that in January 2022 she had sex with Richard. According to court documents, her lawyer stated that she believes that they reconciled.
A month later, the property which Lakeisha mortgaged was set to be auctioned, and Richard sued Lakeisha, asking to be given the money from the sale of the house.
The court has announced that the mansion will be auctioned in August 2022.
Lakeisha’s debt is reputedly now over $500,000.
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Who is Richard Williams?
Richard Dove Williams Junior was born on 14 February 1942, in Shreveport, Louisiana USA, the oldest of five children of Richard Senior and Julia Mae Williams. He has four sisters, Faye, Pat, Penny and Barbara. His father left them, and Richard wrote in his book about his childhood days, saying that they lived in a three-room shack near the railroad tracks and that the house was so ragged that a strong wind could blow it down.
Richard took care of his mother and his sisters working in the woods, and as he said, to bring them food to the table, he would shoot rabbits or even steal a chicken.
Upon matriculating from high school in 1960, Richard moved to Saginaw, Michigan, and eventually to California, where he met his first future wife, Betty Johnson. The two married in 1965, and they have five children together, namely Sabrina, Reneeka, Reluss, Ronner and Richard III – they divorced in 1973.
Richard met Serena’s and Venus’ mother, Oracene ‘Brandy’ Price in 1979, and they married in 1980; Oracene had three daughters from her previous marriage. The family lived in Compton, California, where Venus Williams was born on 17 June 1980, and Serena on 26 September 1981.
Before he met Oracene, Richard took tennis lessons from a man known as ‘Old Whiskey’ and after he saw Virginia Ruzici, a Romanian tennis player, Richard decided that his future daughters would become professional tennis players. When Venus and Serena were four and a half years old, he began taking them to practice on public tennis courts, however, it seemed that it was too early, so he waited until they were six. They then attended a tennis academy, but in 1995 he withdrew them both, and within a few years of him coaching them, the girls were winning grand slam tournaments.
Richard divorced Oracene in 2002 – she filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Although Richard is credited with the success of their daughters, many people are not aware of the fact that Oracene also coached them, since she played tennis herself.
As we know, his third wife was Lakeisha Graham, but perhaps you didn’t know that Richard has another son, Chavoita LeSane, who is now his carer. Richard suffered two strokes in 2022, and his ‘mystery son’ whom he had through a relationship with an unknown woman, is now his spokesperson, since he is hardly able to speak.
Chavoita is 48 years old, and is the director of a music promotion company, but is also known for his criminal record. He was reportedly accused of several traffic felonies, domestic violence, resisting arrest, and even assaulting a pregnant woman, but many of these cases were dropped. When Richard released his book “Black and White: The Way I See It”, he credited Chavoita as his biggest support.
