Former New Jersey Nets star Richard Jefferson and onetime Nets dancer Kesha Ni’Cole Nichols were set to tie the knot at New York City’s swanky Mandarin Oriental hotel on July 11. However, Jefferson opted out of the $2 million nuptials the night before the wedding.
The young couple share a tender kiss during happier times.
Kesha and Richard, who was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in June, are all smiles on the basketball court. Kesha is a professional performer and was also a dancer for the New Jersey Nets.
Kesha shows off her engagement ring while attending an event with Richard in New York City just last month.
Kesha (center) is surrounded by multiple generations of southern family members whose roots stem from Drexel, North Carolina. Kesha, now 29, is the product of a White mother and Black father.
Young Kesha in a ballet pose. The baby ballerina went on to become a professional dancer.
The handsome couple steals away from the crowd to share some camera time.
The fun-loving couple cut a rug during a black-tie affair.
Kesha says of her former beau Richard: “You can’t keep making someone try to love you the way you want them to."
A smiling Kesha is surrounded by her all-girl crew in the final days leading up to her scheduled wedding to Richard Jefferson.
Richard enjoys a brew while Kesha rests on his lap.
“I was raised by a White family. He taught me to appreciate my Blackness,” says the former dancer of her ex-fiance.
The couple rack up a little R&R on a soothing beachfront back when their love was sweet.
“My heart is broken—of course—it’s every girl’s worst nightmare,” says the southern beauty, surrounded here by loved ones, when asked about being left by her former flame the night before they were scheduled to wed.
Nichols immediately called her family and friends to alert them that her extravagant bridal affair was called off. Some guests had already shown up for the ceremony.
