Artist Kehinde Wiley denies sexual assault allegations

CNN
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Kehinde Wiley, the American artist best known for the official portrait of former US President Barack Obama, has denied allegations of sexual assault.

In an Instagram post shared on Sunday, British-Ghanaian artist and curator Joseph Awuah-Darko alleged that Wiley sexually assaulted him twice in 2021. Awuah-Darko said the first incident occurred on June 9, 2021, at a dinner at the Noldor Artist Residency in Ghana to celebrate Wiley’s work. Awuah-Darko is the founder and chairman of the Accra-based program.

In the post, he claimed he was “inappropriately groped” by Wiley in front of another guest and that the action was “unwanted and unprovoked.” He then described a second incident that day as “much more serious and violent,” without elaborating. (In a subsequent interview with The New York Times, he claimed that “a sexual encounter began consensually but then moved to a bedroom where … Mr. Wiley forced himself on him after Mr. Awuah-Darko said he wanted to.” “I don’t want to go further.”)

The attacks “almost destroyed me,” Awuah-Darko wrote in the post, adding that he hoped others would feel encouraged to come forward.

Shortly after the post was published, Wiley denied the allegations, writing on his own Instagram: “Someone with whom I had a brief, consensual relationship almost three years ago is now making false allegations about our time together.” These claims are not true Truth and are an affront to all victims of sexual abuse.”

“I have no idea why he chose to target me in this way – especially when there is a whole body of evidence that his claims are false – but I hope he gets the help “that he needs for everything he’s going through,” Wiley continued. “I ask for privacy as I work to clear my name.

Wiley representatives provided CNN with a copy of a cease-and-desist letter they said was sent to Awuah-Darko, asking him to immediately remove the Instagram posts they described as “categorically false and defamatory.” The letter portrays Awuah-Darko’s claims as “malicious” and aimed at “ruining Wiley’s reputation for…financial gain and attention.”

CNN was also shown copies of messages between Awuah-Darko and Wiley that Wiley officials said were sent in the months following the alleged attack. In some cases, Awuah-Darko appears to be making preparations to attend a birthday party for Wiley in Nigeria; in another, he asks if he could visit Wiley at his home in upstate New York. (It appears Wiley did not respond to this message.)

Awuah-Darko and his legal representative did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for further comment on his allegations, as well as Wiley’s response. But in his Sunday statement on Instagram, he said he “did not immediately confront the reality of my abuse like this,” and that it took “several months to come to terms with what had actually happened.”

“I realize that I am not the perfect victim of sexual assault,” Awuah-Darko told The New York Times, “but that is exactly what happened to me.”

In a previous Instagram video posted in March, Awuah-Darko had claimed that he had been “sexually assaulted by someone superior to me in privilege and power…” and that he wanted to raise $200,000 for legal fees.

Awuah-Darko said in a post on his Instagram Stories on Monday that he planned to take legal action. Awuah-Darko’s legal representative did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for further comment. In his Instagram post on Sunday, he wrote that reporting the attack in Ghana would have been “problematic at best, dangerous at worst” given the country’s general attitudes toward LGBTQ people. In February, Ghana’s parliament passed a controversial bill criminalizing LGBTQ relationships and those who support LGBTQ rights.

Wiley gained international fame in 2017 when he was chosen to paint Obama’s official portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The result was a vibrant depiction of the 44th president against a backdrop of green foliage and symbolic flowers.

The Yale University-trained painter had previously built a career in portraiture and sculpture, depicting black people in the style of old master paintings to bold, artistic effect.