“Don’t y’all be givin’ this man no damn money, ya hear!?”
Michael Ilesanmi is looking to get support— and $50,000!— from 90 Day Fiancé fans to help him in his legal fight against his estranged wife Angela Deem.
The “Happily Ever After?” star hit The Interwebs on Tuesday to spread the word about a GoFundMe fundraiser he recently created to help him raise money to pay the lawyer he has hired to help him in his battle against Angela. As The Ashley recently reported, Angela filed for an annulment back in June, claiming that her 36-year-old Nigerian husband allegedly “fraudulently induced [her] into a marriage for the purpose of gaining legal permanent resident status in the United States.”
In her legal paperwork, Angela accused Michael of being “engaged in a conspiracy with other Nigerian men to induce U.S. citizens into marriage for the purpose of gaining legal permanent resident status.” (However, during Sunday’s ‘Happily Ever After?’ Season 8 “Tell-All” episode, a private investigator hired by Angela to investigate Michael stated that he had found no evidence of Michael scamming Angela, cheating on Angela or being unethical in terms of his motives for marrying Angela.)
“If my purple Lamé jumpsuit wasn’t fixin’ to split if I made any sudden movements, I would have slapped that investigator upside the head!”
Anyway, in the bio of his GoFundMe page, Michael explained that he needs to raise $50,000 to pay for his lawyer.
“I have been put in a situation where I unfortunately have to ask for help,” Michael wrote. “Due to the recent legal filings by Angela against me I must seek legal advice. I have obtained an attorney but the fees are expensive. I have a legal battle to fight and that fight will be expensive. I am asking all my fans to help – whatever you can give I would deeply appreciate. I understand all of us are having hard times and I hate to ask others for money support but it seems like due to the legal actions brought against me I have to ask.”
Michael quickly followed his post up with a Facebook Live video that he made to ensure his fans that his fundraiser is real.
“I just shared the GoFundMe link on my bio,” he said. “Please kindly show your support. You guys know she filed [for an] annulment against me. I really need your support right now…
“I’m doing the best I can on my end, too. So I really need your support,” he continued. “The GoFundMe link is real, it’s from me, it’s not fake or anything.”
In the comment section of his Instagram post about the fundraiser, fans mostly rallied around Michael.
“Let’s start a petition to keep Michael and send Angela to Nigeria!” one person wrote.
Others mentioned Angela’s shockking (and abusive) behavior toward Michael during the “Tell-All” episodes— actions that had many fans taking to social media to call out TLC, as well as the show’s producers and other cast members— for not stepping in to protect Michael.
“You suffered enough,” one person wrote. “No one should go through the kind of verbal abuse that [you] went through.”
“TLC should be paying this period!” someone else commented. “They are part to blame for allowing it on their platform.”
Angela has yet to publicly comment on Michael’s fundraiser.
