Dwyane Wade’s Ex Accuses Him of Pressuring Zaya for Monetary Acquire

Dwyane Wade‘s ex-wife, Siohvaughn Funches, has accused the previous athlete of making the most of their daughter Zaya’s gender identification.

The podcast host, 41, made her claims in an objection to the petition that Wade, 40, filed to formally change the teenager’s identify. “I’ve considerations that [Wade] could also be pressuring our little one to maneuver ahead with the identify and gender change to be able to capitalize on the monetary alternatives that he has acquired from firms, and can obtain primarily based upon [his] statements to me, on the idea of our little one’s identify and/or gender change,” Funches alleged in courtroom paperwork obtained by Us Weekly.

The previous NBA star filed a petition in August requesting that the courtroom permit his 15-year-old daughter to legally change her identify to Zaya and her gender to feminine. The Olympic gold medalist signed the petition, however Funches didn’t.

In her objection, Funches alleged that her ex-husband advised her in April that “some huge cash had been already made” in relation “to our little one’s identify and gender difficulty.” The general public speaker claimed that Zaya was current on the time and advised her mom that Disney was a “potential” enterprise accomplice.

“I’m involved that our little one is being commercialized at a younger age and in addition of the uncontrollable penalties of media publicity i.e. cyber bullying, statements and/or footage taken out of context of our little one, and undesirable highlight targeted on our little one,” Funches continued. “I contend that our little one must be given the chance to resolve for themselves on the age of majority in the event that they need to transfer ahead with altering their identify and/or gender. As such, I respectfully request that the Courtroom deny Petitioner’s requested reduction.”

Wade and Funches, who break up in 2007, are additionally the dad and mom of son Zaire, 20. The previous Miami Warmth participant additionally shares son Xavier, 8, with Aja Metoyer and daughter Kaavia, 3, with spouse Gabrielle Union. Us has reached out to Wade’s rep for touch upon his former partner’s claims.

The three-time NBA champion has been outspoken about his assist for Zaya since publicly revealing her gender identification in February 2020. “Initially, me and my spouse, Gabrielle Union, we’re proud dad and mom of a kid within the LGBTQ+ group, and we’re proud allies as properly,” he defined throughout an look on The Ellen DeGeneres Present on the time. “We take our roles and our obligations as dad and mom very significantly.”

The Chicago native went on to say that he and the Deliver It On actress, 50, simply needed to provide Zaya “the perfect alternative to be her finest self” with all of their assets. “I mentioned, ‘You’re a chief. You’re a chief, and this is a chance to will let you be a voice,’” he mentioned, recalling a dialog he’d had with the then-preteen. “Proper now it’s by means of us as a result of she’s 12 years previous, however finally will probably be by means of her.”

In June, the ESPY Award winner revealed that Zaya didn’t need to have fun Pleasure this yr, however she was nonetheless hoping to make use of her household’s affect to assist others.

“Zaya made it very clear that she [doesn’t] need to have fun Pleasure. I believe day-after-day for her, having a loving, supportive group round her is her celebratory second,” Wade advised Us on the time. “However the largest factor is my daughter mentioned, ‘We wish to have the ability to assist different households.’ So, all through our foundations we strive to ensure we’re serving to the LGBTQIA+ group. That’s how we have fun.”