Personal Life
On September 16, 2011, Artest's name was officially changed to Metta World Peace. "Metta" is his first name, and "World Peace" is his surname. "Changing my name was meant to inspire and bring youth together all around the world," World Peace said in a statement released after the name change court hearing. His publicist, Courtney Barnes, said that World Peace chose Metta as his first name because it is a traditional Buddhist word that means loving kindness and friendliness towards all.
World Peace and Kimsha Artest (née Hatfield) were married for 6 years. Kimsha was a cast member on VH1's reality TV show Basketball Wives: LA. The two have three children together: Sadie, Ron III, and Diamond. Kimsha and World Peace, who was still called Ron Artest at the time, married in June 2003 and divorced in 2009. World Peace has another son, Jeron, with his former high school girlfriend Jennifer Palma. World Peace's daughter, Diamond, also plans to change her surname from Artest to World Peace now that her father's name change has become official.
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