June 14, 2024
Artist Kehinde Wiley Pulls Receipts To Deny ‘Disgusting’ Sexual Assault And Abuse Allegations Made By Multiple Men
Kehinde Wiley is showing receipts to shut down the sexual assault and abuse allegations men have brought against him.
Famed artist Kehinde Wiley is bringing forth receipts to shut down the disturbing sexual assault and abuse allegations multiple men have brought against him in recent months.
The Los Angeles-born, New York-based artist, best known for painting the official portrait of former President Barack Obama, took to Instagram on Tuesday, June 11, to “set the record straight” through detailed timelines and screenshots of private messages sent between him and two of his four alleged victims.
Screenshots show alleged texts between Wiley and Ghanaian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko, the first person to come forward with allegations accusing the painter of sexually assaulting him twice in 2021.
A screenshot shows the Instagram caption Awuah-Darko wrote after meeting Wiley in Ghana for the first time in June 2021. Other images show missed back-to-back calls from Awuah-Darko during what Wiley described as a “consensual one-time encounter” after a night of “flirting.”
“The next day, he left happily, as witnessed by my assistant who arranged his transportation home,” Wiley wrote alongside more screenshots of text messages. “He also sent me these friendly and flirty messages. This marked the beginning of years of Joseph aggressively pursuing a relationship with me.”
Another screenshot showed Awuah-Darko agreeing to travel from London to Nigeria to attend Wiley’s birthday party in February 2022.
“A year after we first met,” Wiley wrote.
“Just last year, he repeatedly sought to visit me at my cabin in Upstate New York, which I ignored,” the artist added alongside more screenshots.
Other images show Awuah-Darko wishing Wiley a happy birthday and telling him how much he is “loved” in 2023, as well as screenshots of the many times he mentioned Wiley on his Instagram Story.
“Since our first encounter in 2021, he has consistently sent me messages via phone and Instagram professing his love for me, my talent, and my work,” Wiley wrote. “He has mentioned me on Instagram Stories more than 30 times.”
Wiley also called out Awuah-Darko for allegedly deleting “thousands of Instagram posts that didn’t fit his narrative,” including one post where he “celebrated our friendship on his feed.”
A second accuser, activist Derrick Ingram, recently came forward to accuse Wiley of rape during “an ongoing relationship for about four months” between July and October 2021, Page Six reports.
“On September 10, 2021, I was raped [unprotected] and sexually assaulted by Kehinde Wiley at his apartment in New York,” Ingram wrote in an Instagram post that included Wiley’s address.
“During the course of our relationship, there were moments of extreme violence which included being punched in an Uber, being slapped and along with severe emotional manipulation.”
However, Wiley denies Ingram’s claims and credits them to the “smear campaign” Awuah-Darko has launched against him.
“He finally managed to conspire with a person I had a brief consensual encounter within 2021” who “also hoped for a more significant relationship,” Wiley wrote.
To prove this, Wiley shared screenshots from texts Ingram sent after their encounter, telling the famed painter he was “amazing” and desired to “see me again,” he wrote.
According to Wiley, who unveiled two portraits of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys earlier this year, his alleged victims are hurling “disgusting accusations” at him in an attempt to destroy his brand and image.
“What is motivating these individuals to hurl these disgusting accusations… Who knows…. We live in a world where a single false social media post can destroy someone’s life, where people are tried and convicted online without regard for the truth. This is dangerous and wrong,” Wiley wrote.
Two additional accusers have come forward with claims against Wiley, including UK-based author and curator Nathaniel Lloyd Richards, who accuses the painter of “inappropriate touching and groping during a date in 2019.” Awuah-Darko and Ingram both plan to sue Wiley.
Meanwhile, many expressed their support for Wiley in his comments sections, making claims that seemingly accuse Awuah-Darko of lying about the famed artist.
“Joseph literally flew thousands of miles to attend your birthday party a year after this “supposed” abuse took place,” one person wrote. “I personally witnessed him at the party. He was thrilled to see you and stayed for hours.”
“I have known you for 25 years, stayed at your house dozens of times, and never seen actions like the ones being described,” added someone else.
