Tristan Thompson Admits Past Sexual Relationship With Maralee Nichols Lasted Months

In a new legal declaration, Tristan Thompson says he had a "consensual casual" sexual relationship with Maralee Nichols, who recently gave birth to a baby she alleges is his third child.

By Corinne Heller Dec 15, 2021 10:03 PMTags
Watch: Tristan Thompson Admits Sexual Relationship Lasted Months

Tristan Thompson says he and Maralee Nichols, who claims in a paternity suit that he fathered her newborn son, had a solely sexual relationship that lasted for months.

On Tuesday, Dec. 14, The Daily Mail published court documents future-dated Dec. 16 that contain a declaration from the NBA star and ex-boyfriend of Khloe Kardashian, mother of his second child True Thompson, 3.

The athlete, who also has an older son, maintains that if he is the father of Nichols' baby boy, who he stated was born Dec. 1, he was conceived when the two had sex this past March on his 30th birthday in Houston, where she used to live. Their hookup allegedly took place months before E! News learned Thompson, who has been involved in past cheating scandalsand Kardashian split. However, a source told E! News this month they have been "broken up since spring." 

"Contrary to [Nichols'] many inferences in her declaration, we did not have a serious ongoing relationship," Thompson's declaration said. "We saw each other sporadically between December 2020 and March 13, 2021 and did not have sexual intercourse in California during that time."

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He added, "[Nichols] told me that she had been involved with other athletes and understood the limitations of our relationship; to-wit, that we might see each other on a sporadic basis for consensual casual sex only. From December 2020 through March 2021, we saw each other on such a basis."

Nichols' and Thompson's lawyers had no immediate comment about the filing when reached by E! News.

George Pimentel/Getty Images

In his filing, Thompson said he met Nichols in "late November/early December 2020 at someone's home" and that she did come to his home in Encino, Calif. "on maybe two occasions during that time."

"[Nichols] constantly used the term 'hook up' to describe our relationship which was the reality," Thompson said. "I am certain that if the child is deemed to be my child that the only date of conception was March 13, 2021, because it was my birthday."

He continued, "Our relationship was based on sex. We would not have seen each other in Houston if we were not going to have sex. We did not have any dates in the traditional sense at any time; there were no dining at restaurants, going to movies, traveling or any other indicia of a normal relationship. There was only Snapchats of 'where' and 'what time' we would hook up and what hotels would be used."

Instagram / Tristan Thompson

Thompson said he and Nichols "never had any telephone calls, emails, nor did we exchange text messages."

"We only communicated via the Snapchat application," he wrote in his declaration. "My username on Snapchat has always been 'blkjesus00.' We used Snapchat to communicate to protect our privacy. After a Snapchat message, the message is automatically deleted. If either one of us would do something to try and save the message, the other party would be notified. I was never notified that [Nichols] saved a message from me."

Thompson added, "Given the fact that our relationship was based on sex only, there would be no reason to keep any messages. Snapchat does not retain messages."

Over the years, many Snapchat users have utilized a common technique to avoid notifying the other party of a screen capture: Manually taking a photo of the screen using another device. Nichols made no mention in her past filings of how she saved her communications with Thompson or what messaging program they used.

After Thompson filed a suit against Nichols in Houston, she filed a response in August that included a photocopy of what she said was a "text from Tristan."

It read, "You know how I feel. My feelings haven't changed at all. Wont [sic] be involved at all. Btw if you think having this baby is gonna make you some money. It's completely wrong. You are aware that I'm retiring after this season. So in terms of support it will be whatever is required monthly for someone who's unemployed. It's texas so it will be only a couple hundred dollars."

He allegedly continued, "So you better off taking this 75k I'm offering cause you won't get nothing near that with having a kid with a father who's unemployed. All you will have is a baby with a father who has zero involvement with the child and a few hundred dollars of child support a month."

In his Dec. 16 declaration, Thompson stated, "[Nichols] has attached to her papers many Snapchat messages which she claims are 'real' and represent 'real' communications between us. However, I strongly contend that these messages have been fabricated by [Nichols]."

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Nichols and Thompson are currently involved in a legal dispute not only about paternity of the child, which so far involves costs related to her pregnancy, but also about where the case should be handled—California or Texas. In a past response to the athlete's filing in Houston this summer, Nichols stated that she planned to give birth in California and argued that Thompson already has two children whose moms live in the state. She also said she believes he "thinks forum shopping in Texas will save him money ultimately in child support."

In his Dec. 16 declaration, the NBA star accused her of "trying to deter the Court from determining the legal issues of where the paternity action should be heard by wrongfully attacking" him.

"I filed paternity action in Texas because that is the only place where paternity could have taken place. In my pleadings, I acknowledged my responsibilities in the event that there is a finding of paternity," he said. "However, I have confirmed that if I am found to be the father, that I will not be seeking custody or visitation of the child."

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