Joseph Awuah-Darko accuses Kehinde Wiley of sexually abusing him

Joseph Awuah-Darko accuses fellow visual artist Kehinde Wiley of sexual assault.

In a shocking Instagram post on Sunday, the Ghanaian artist claimed Wiley attacked him twice in June 2021.

“I was sexually assaulted by @kehindewiley. It almost destroyed me,” Awuah-Darko wrote. “I hope my words and my openness about my painful experience encourage others to come forward. I hope that everything that unfolds paves a path not only to accountability, but also to compensation and collective healing for other victims.”

Wiley apparently responded to Awuah-Darko’s allegations in his own Instagram post on Sunday.

“Someone with whom I had a brief, consensual relationship almost three years ago is now making false allegations about our time together,” Wiley wrote. “I ask for privacy as I work to clear my name.”

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Wiley, pictured, appeared to respond to Awuah-Darko's allegations of sexual assault in his own Instagram post on Sunday, describing the claims as a "false accusation."

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USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Awuah-Darko and Wiley for comment.

Wiley is a New York painter who became a star of the art world with his images of everyday people – people of color from Harlem, Haiti, France and beyond – in the style of large European portraits once reserved for kings, queens and other royalty. He has also painted portraits of celebrities including Spike Lee, Carmelo Anthony and former President Barack Obama.

Joseph Awuah-Darko describes two sexual assaults by Kehinde Wiley

In his Instagram post, Awuah-Darko claimed he first met Wiley during a dinner in Wiley’s honor at the Noldor Artist Residency, which he founded in 2020.

As Awuah-Darko led Wiley and another guest to the bathroom, he was allegedly groped by Wiley when the painter grabbed his buttocks and said “something to the effect of ‘What is that thing?'” “Awuah-Darko said he subsequently “calmed the situation with awkward humor.”

“The act was completely unwelcome and unprovoked – Wiley had known me for little more than two hours at the time and I was wearing a modest dark green kaftan,” Awuah-Darko wrote. “I was stunned and concerned for two reasons: (A) this unsolicited act occurred in Ghana at my workplace and (B) it was committed by a critically acclaimed artist who knew the power he wielded and was clearly willing to do so his seemed to be abusing her.” It.”

Awuah-Darko said Wiley attacked him a second time, although he did not detail the circumstances of the attack other than describing it as “more serious and violent.” He also claimed that Wiley had a “pattern of predatory behavior” that “has been treated as an open secret in the art world for some time.”

Addressing Wiley directly, Awuah-Darko concluded: “I urge you to use your supposed credibility, your influence, your loyalists and everything you have to silence those of us who come forward . Because I assure you, you will need it.”

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