Artist Kehinde Wiley accused of sexual assault

Photo: David M. Benett/Getty Images for Fashion Trust Arabia

Joseph Awuah-Darko, an artist working in Ghana, has accused Kehinde Wiley of sexual assault. On Instagram, Awuah-Darko said he was attacked twice by Wiley at a Ghana Creative Art Council dinner at the Noldor Artist Residency. Awuah-Darko says Wiley groped his buttocks two hours after he and Wiley met: “The act was completely unwelcome and unprovoked,” he wrote. “The second The attack was much more serious and violent.” Awuah-Darko did not further describe the second attack, but said it took him a long time to “come to terms with the reality of my abuse as such.” He says he is “actively seeking legal action and hopes that speaking out about my abuse will give other victims the opportunity to do the same.”

Wiley responded to the accusation with his own social media post. “Someone with whom I had a brief, consensual relationship is now making false, disturbing and defamatory allegations about our time together,” he wrote in part. “I ask for privacy as I work to clear my name.” Wiley is known for his portraits of black men and women in the style of the Old Masters. He painted the official presidential portrait of Barack Obama in 2018.