*Barack Obama’s official portrait artist, Kehinde Wiley, is fighting back against accusations that he sexually abused multiple men.
We reported earlier that one of the accusers is Ghana-based artist Joseph Awuah-Darko. He took to his Instagram account in May to accuse Wiley of sexually assaulting him twice in 2021. In his post, Awuah-Darko states, “To Kehinde: I thoroughly invite you to leverage your supposed credibility, your influence, your loyalists, and everything you have to gag those of us who come forward. Because I assure you, you will need it.”
Awuah-Darko said he is seeking “legal action” against Wiley, best known for his official portrait of Barack Obama in the Smithsonian.
According to Page Six, another accuser, activist Derrick Ingram, recently came forward accusing Wiley of rape.
“On September 10, 2021, I was raped [unprotected] and sexually assaulted by Kehinde Wiley at his apartment in New York,” Ingram shared in an Instagram post, which included Wiley’s address.
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Joseph Awuah-Darko, acclaimed Curator, Collector, Artist, and Founder of Noldor Artist Residency in Ghana, has publicly accused renowned artist Kehinde Wiley of sexually assaulting him on two occasions, one on June 9, 2021, and another on an undisclosed date, via his Instagram on… pic.twitter.com/a2tDuE6GeU
— ghanaspora (@ghanaspora) May 19, 2024
Ingram claims he and Wiley had “an ongoing relationship for about 4 months.”
“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,” he alleged, per Page Six.
Wiley has denied all of the accusations. In a post on his Instagram account, he claims Awuah-Darko messaged him “professing his love for me, my talent, and my work” since the alleged 2021 incident.
Additionally, he added, “he has mentioned me on his Instagram stories more than 30 times,” Wiley wrote. “Before he made these unhinged false claims and deleted thousands of Instagram posts that didn’t fit his narrative, he celebrated our friendship on his feed.”
Wiley accused Awuah-Darko of conspiring with Ingram, “a person I had a brief consensual encounter with in 2021; this person had also hoped for a more significant relationship,” he wrote on social media.
“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 said.
Meanwhile, two more males have come forward accusing Kehinde of sexual assault.
According to Page Six, UK-based author Nathaniel Lloyd Richards accuses Wiley of “inappropriate touching and groping during a date in 2019,” according to a statement he shared with Hyperallergic.
Meanwhile, another accuser, Terrell Armistead, claims Wiley raped him in 2010.
“In Winter of 2010, I was groped and raped by Kehinde Wiley — both without my consent at his apartment in New York,” Armistead revealed in an Instagram post.
A source close to Wiley told Page Six, “Kehinde is fed up and he is not going to be a punching bag for these spurious allegations.”
Wiley’s attorney, Jennifer Barrett, said he “intends to pursue every avenue available to him, legal and otherwise, to defend his reputation.”
READ MORE NEWS FROM EURWEB.COM: Search Gay Artist Joseph Awuah-Darko Accuses Famous Obama Painter Kehinde Wiley of Sexual Assault – Wiley Responds
