Tristan Thompson has apologised to Khloe Kardashian after a new paternity test revealed he fathered a baby boy with fitness instructor Maralee Nichols.
On Monday (3 January), the 30-year-old basketball star issued a statement amid an ongoing paternity lawsuit filed by Nichols, claiming Thompson is the father of her newborn child.
Nichols, who gave birth to their son on 2 December last year, is suing the Sacramento Kings player for child support and other pregnancy-related fees.
Court documents showed Thompson admitted to having sex with Nichols on his birthday in March last year while Thompson was dating Kardashian, with whom he has a daughter named True.
Following the paternity test results on Monday, Thompson posted a two-part statement on Instagram to ask for forgiveness and publicly commit to co-parenting his son with Nichols.
His message read: “I take full responsibility for my actions. Now that paternity has been established I look forward to amicably raising our son. I sincerely apologise to everyone I’ve hurt or disappointed throughout this ordeal both publicly and privately.”
In a second Instagram story, Thompson apologised to Kardashian for the “heartache and humiliation” he caused her over the course of their fractured, tumultuous relationship which began in 2016.
“Khloe, you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don’t deserve the way I have treated you over the years. My actions certainly have not lined up with the way I view you,” he wrote.
Thompson reportedly threatened Nichols to withdraw her paternity lawsuit, and accept his $75,000 (£55,686) offer of settlement.
According to court documents, obtained by Page Six, Thompson “insisted” Nichols get an abortion, while suggesting that Nichols’ child support lawsuit would, at best, leave her raising a “baby with a father who has zero involvement... and a few hundred dollars of child support a month”.
Over the course of the bitter lawsuit, Thompson also repeatedly called for Nichols’ baby to undergo a DNA test.
Thompson had filed his own lawsuit against Nichols in Texas, alleging the personal trainer owned property in Houston. However, it was dismissed in December last year.
Nichols filed her child support lawsuit in California, with her lawyers arguing that her “lengthy relationship” with the basketball player “spanned multiple states” and that the child was born in California – where both Nichols and Thompson reside currently.
Thompson has admitted to cheating on Kardashian multiple times, including when the 37-year-old reality TV star was pregnant with True in 2018.
Thompson also shares a son with ex-girlfriend Jordan Craig.
