Focusing on her little one. Amid her public paternity lawsuit against Tristan Thompson, Maralee Nichols has made it clear that her only concern continues to be the well-being of her newborn.
Nichols first made headlines when she alleged that the professional basketball player was the father of her baby. The NBA player acknowledged that he hooked up with Nichols in the past in response to the July 2021 court filing. However, Thompson requested genetic testing to prove that he had fathered a child with Nichols after their meeting that March.
As the legal battle continued late last year, Us Weekly broke the news in December 2021 that Nichols gave birth to a baby boy. That same month, Nichols broke her silence about the lawsuit in an effort to “defend her character.”
In a lengthy statement, the new mom claimed that the Canada native initially told her that he was “not having a sexual relationship with anyone else” when they met. She noted that their relationship was “not casual sex,” adding, “Tristan and I communicated daily and talked on the phone. We would see each other several times a month.”
At the time, Nichols detailed Thompson inviting her to see him on Christmas, New Years and his birthday in March. The former Cleveland Cavaliers player was dating Khloé Kardashian, with whom he shares 3-year-old daughter True, at the time of his alleged interactions with Nichols.
Nichols explained that she “did everything possible not to draw attention to my pregnancy and the issues with Tristan,” including a brief from social media.
“I wanted to keep my pregnancy private and as peaceful as possible. I have never sought media attention for my pregnancy, and I wish that I did not even have to send this statement,” she wrote in her statement to Us.
Thompson, who is also the father of 5-year-old son with ex Jordan Craig, went on to publicly acknowledge that he is the father of Nichols’ baby.
“Today, paternity test results reveal that I fathered a child with Maralee Nichols. I take full responsibility for my actions,” he wrote via Instagram Stories on Monday, January 3. “Now that paternity has been established I look forward to amicably raising our son.”
In his response to the genetic testing, the Sacramento Kings player issued an apology to Kardashian as well, writing, “Khloé, 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.”
He continued: “My actions certainly have not lined up with the way I view you. I have the utmost respect and love for you. Regardless of what you may think. Again, I am so incredibly sorry.”
Nichols, for her part, responded through her attorney to Thompson’s public statement, saying “There was never any doubt that Tristan Thompson was the father.”
The California resident went on to add, “Tristan made numerous false and defamatory statements and declarations about Maralee over the past few months, and she is taking his contrite statement today in the context of all of those statements.”
Scroll down for everything to know about Nichols following her public paternity lawsuit against Thompson: