It’s just been officially confirmed that Tristan Thompson is indeed the father to 31-year-old fitness model Maralee Nichols’ newborn son (talk about stating the obvious!) and he has responded in the most interesting way. The 30-year-old NBA player confirmed the results of the paternity test which he insisted on via his Instagram Story on Monday, January 3rd, and issued quite a heartfelt apology to Khloé Kardashian, who he was in a relationship with at the time the baby was conceived.
“Today, paternity test results reveal that I fathered a child with Maralee Nichols,” Thompson wrote on his Instagram Story, which simply consisted of white text on a black background. “I take full responsibility for my actions. Now that paternity has been established I look forward to amicably raising our son. I sincerely apologize to everyone I’ve hurt or disappointed throughout this ordeal both privately and publicly.”
In the next Instagram Story, the Sacramento Kings player – who shares three-year-old daughter True with Khloé, and five-year-old son Prince with ex girlfriend Jordan Craig – mentioned the 37-year-old Good American founder by name, in particular how he "hurt" her and how she doesn't "deserve" the way he has treated her.
Thompson wrote: "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. 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."
Khloé hasn’t directly responded to Tristan's comments about the DNA test results, although she has shared a few indirect posts on social media that could be interpreted as being related to what is happening in her life right now. Nichols has responded to Thompson's paternity confirmation via her rep, who told People that there was "never any doubt that Tristan Thompson was the father of Maralee Nichols' baby." The source continued: "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."
Nichols previously shared that she doesn’t want "any further media attention" nor does she want a relationship with the basketball player. "Instead of focusing on any negativity, I am choosing to embrace being a mother and doing the best I can for my son," the personal trainer said in a statement, via People. "I do not want any further media attention, nor do I want a romantic relationship with Tristan. My goal is to raise our son in a safe, healthy, loving and private environment."
