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RAUNCHY PAST
'KING Richard' Williams' estranged wife worked as a stripper in Miami and his son didn't want him to marry her before their bitter divorce battle began, The U.S. Sun can reveal.
The tennis patriarch, who coached daughters Serena and Venus Williams to become sporting legends, is desperate to finalize his split from ex Lakeisha Graham.
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The pair met at a tennis tournament in 2010, and Richard was immediately intrigued by her, saying he found her attractive and wanted to pursue a relationship.
Although he doesn't want to talk about Lakeisha's past or their troubles amid the lengthy legal battle, his son Chavoita LeSane has confirmed she was a stripper.
"When I realized who Lakeisha was, I was not really concerned because, my dad, he's a grown man. I mean, we all make our own choices in life," he said.
"So I felt like that was his choice, not my choice. So I felt like he was fully aware of whatever decision he was making, and it was his choice to make.
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"I was thinking he was fully in control of what was going on.
"As far as me learning Lakeisha was a stripper, dancer, or what have you, I never look down on anyone for whatever their profession or life, career, or goals are. It never bothered me.
"The only thing I wanted to make sure of was that they are a great person [for] my dad, that's all I cared about.
"Me remembering when I first met Keisha is kind of difficult. I just know that Lakeisha's been a thorn in my side. But in the beginning, my dad was very smitten with Keisha. And she seemed to be very taken with my dad."
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But Chavoita, a music and film producer, admits friends of his warned him about Lakeisha's behavior and he was concerned she wasn't a good fit for his ailing father.
A second source revealed Lakeisha, 44, who is 37 years younger than Richard, used to work at a club called Rolexx in Miami, under the name Angel.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to multiple lawyers for Lakeisha Williams but did not hear back.
In court documents seen by The U.S. Sun, Richard has accused Lakeisha of cashing his social security checks and transferring their house and vehicles into her name.
Asked if he thought she was a gold digger, Chavoita said: "I don't know what her intentions were in the beginning, but in my opinion, it does not look right.
"Honestly, I never thought my dad would marry Lakeisha.
"Lakeisha had asked him several times, she was giving him ultimatums and was going to stop seeing him."
Chavoita said he was concerned, but his dad was not going to listen to him and followed his heart and tied the knot with Lakeisha in a secret ceremony.
Court documents show Lakeisha has described herself as a "dancer" during their feud over their marital home.
Frail Richard has been speaking to The U.S. Sun in a series of revelatory interviews where he claimed his spouse stole a bus and other vehicles before forging his signature on mortgage documents.
This led to ex-club dancer Lakeisha taking out a $279,000 home loan from "hard lender" David Simon, which she blew on a disastrous trucking business and has failed to pay back.
STRIP CLUB CONNECTIONS
Simon and Richard have been pursuing Lakeisha in a six-year legal battle, with the former demanding the four-bed house in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, be sold to pay off his debt, which stands at over $600k including legal fees and interest.
Richard and son Chavoita Lesane claim they will soon be filing their own lawsuit for elder abuse, as they gather documentation together.
The U.S. Sun has trawled through dozens of court documents, which reveal the full extent as to how Richard lost the home, which had been in the Williams family since 1995 when he purchased it with tennis champ Serena's mom Oracene in 1995 for $355,000.
Lakeisha first started faking Richard’s signature to transfer ownership of his vehicles, which were then sold without his knowledge.
She admitted on oath that she sold his 1999 Bluebird motor home, worth $46,000, using an accomplice, Brandy Clark.
On October 2, 2016, Lakeisha faked Richard’s signature to hand over power of attorney to Clark, who then had the authority to sell the car without Richard's consent.
Lakeisha admitted to meeting Clark in the club where she was a dancer, saying in court docs: "So I think I met her through that point, to that effect of seeing her in the club.”
She claimed that she "stole" the bus because Richard had left her and their son Dylan, ten, starving, saying: "Mainly, I was broke by my husband [who] did not help me.
"He left me, him and Chavoita. 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."
Richard's legal team couldn't disguise their amazement over Lakeisha's explanation at the next turn of events where she faked his signature on the title deeds of his own home to borrow hundreds of thousands from Simon.
In her testimony, she admits wanting to borrow money to set up a trucking business as "trucks run in my family - my granddad had his own tractor."
CO-PARENTING PLAN
This was after seeing Simon's Volvo truck for sale, but he wanted house title deeds as collateral before selling it to her and loaning her more money.
Lakeisha, who also says she's an "entertainer," claimed that Richard "said that he was going to give me $300,000" - and in the past, they’d borrowed money using the house as collateral and then paid it back.
It is not known what Lakeisha is now doing for a living, but she receives some money from her ex to care for their son, Dylan.
Chavoita said: "They actually have joint custody of Dylan, my dad, and Lakeisha.
"My dad is like a super dad, and right now they seem to raise Dylan well together, he's a happy little boy."
But he insisted they are still gathering documents for a new filing and hope to challenge Lakeisha again in court over the money she has allegedly stolen from Richard.
Chavoita says he hasn't spoken to her directly in some time, but she has yelled at him over the legal battle in recent years, and sent text messages.
"My dad's only issue now is just that he has a hard time communicating," Chavoita added.
"Sometimes he can say no when he means yes. It's lingering effects from the strokes.
"But he's super happy, his energy, his smile is contagious."
Despite Richard saying he's been sworn off women after his experience with Lakeisha, Chavoita hopes he does find love again as he gets older.
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"I think my dad's a romantic," he said.
"He writes poems all the time. I think my dad loves being in love with love, so there's no telling what could happen."
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