Divorce drama. Malik Beasley’s estranged wife, Montana Yao, was denied temporary spousal support by Minnesota court on Monday, March 29, Us Weekly can confirm, following his PDA scandal with Larsa Pippen last year.
According to the filing, obtained by Us, Yao, 22, requested $5,000 per month in temporary spousal support from the NBA player and $8,000 a month in temporary child support for their 2-year-old son, Makai, in December 2020.
The model was denied “temporary spousal maintenance” on Monday but was granted temporary child support in the amount of $6,500 per month.
Yao’s request for a $15,000 advance from the estranged couple’s marital estate has been deferred. She was also denied her request for $20,000 to pay her attorney’s fees.
The filing came nearly four months after Yao filed for divorce from the Minnesota Timberwolves player, 24, on December 8, 2020, seven days after Beasley made headlines for spending time with Pippen, 46, while the pair were still married.
Photos surfaced on December 1 of Beasley and Pippen holding hands in Miami on November 23. “Wow … I don’t even know this man,” Yao wrote on her Instagram Story after seeing the snaps. “This is wild y’all I’m seeing it for the first time just like y’all.”
Yao, who married Beasley in March 2020, later claimed that she was “told to leave our family home 10 day[s] ago, and just like you all I’m pretty confused.” Her Instagram statement came on December 9, one day after she filed divorce papers.
Beasley’s attorney told Us in January that “Malik looks to put this matter behind him” amid the pair’s divorce, but Yao wasn’t ready to let go.
“The assessment of Mr. Beasley’s attorney was correct when he stated that Mr. Beasley just wanted to put this whole situation ‘behind him.’ That assessment, however, omits the fact that Mr. Beasley forgot to inform Montana Yao, his long-time partner and wife, of his plans to leave his family ‘behind,’” Yao’s lawyers, Paul Applebaum and Alan Eidsness, said in a statement to Us in January. “Instead, he put Montana and their young son out of the family home while he stayed behind to live there with friends.”
The former Miss Malibu Teen USA’s lawyers claimed that Beasley “has only contributed $800 toward the care of their son” and that Yao gave up her “successful” modeling career to focus on their family.
Beasley’s lawyer responded to Us: “It is unfortunate that counsel for Montana Yao has elected to misrepresent facts in the media to seek sympathy, while omitting the fact his client demanded an outrageous and obscene amount of money for not only her, but for her mother, as an apparent bounty for an eight-month marriage.”
Yao’s attorney fired back, saying, “Mr. Beasley’s latest statement is false from beginning to end. There is a ton of information the world, and more importantly the NBA, doesn’t know that will be coming out in the very near future.”
The following month, the Real Housewives of Miami alum opened up about her relationship with Beasley, claiming that she spoke with him about his marriage before they began dating and he made it clear that they were over.
“I googled them when I first met him — they weren’t together,” Pippen said during a February appearance on Hollywood Unlocked With Jason Lee. “They had issues before. It had nothing to do with me, so I wasn’t thinking anything about it. If you spent a minute googling their situation, it wasn’t the ideal situation, way before me.”
The mother of four, who shares Scotty Jr., 20, Preston, 19, Justin, 16, and Sophia, 13, with estranged husband Scottie Pippen, added that Beasley’s marital status “wasn’t a secret,” noting, “I know a lot of people that are married and exiting.”
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