Renowned Ghanaian artist, Joseph Awuah-Darko, has accused internationally-acclaimed Nigerian artist, Kehinde Wiley, of sexual abuse.
Awuah Darko said Wiley assaulted him twice on June 9, 2021, during a banquet honoring the artist at the Creative Art Council at the Noldor Artist Residency which he established in 2020.
According to a post Awuah-Darko made on social media, Wiley touched his buttocks during the first assault while he was walking Wiley and another visitor up a flight of stairs to the restroom.
According to him, this exchange was “categorically unwelcome and unprovoked.” He even said that it was seen by another dinner guest, who wished to remain unknown.
According to Awuah-Darko, “the second assault was much more severe and violent,” but stayed away from details.
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Wiley, however, refuted the accusations in an Instagram post saying “Someone I had a brief, consensual relationship with almost three years ago is now making a false accusation about our time together.”
In a longer statement provided to Artnet News through his press representative, Marathon Strategies, Wiley continued to say that, these statements were insulting to all victims of sexual abuse and were untrue.
“I have no idea why he has decided to target me in this way, particularly when there is a litany of evidence showing his claims are false. But I hope he gets the help he needs for whatever he is going through. I kindly ask for privacy as I work to clear my name.”
He also said: “Awuah-Darko has been trying to be part of my life ever since we met, flying to Nigeria to attend my birthday party, attempting to visit my home in upstate New York, sending me warm and cordial text messages, and almost a year ago, attending my exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and posting to Instagram that the show by his ‘dear friend’ was ‘breath-taking.”
The PR agency produced screenshots of many text communications between Awuah-Darko and Wiley.
Awuah-Darko was born in London into a Ghanaian family and currently resides in Accra. He is a collector, artist, musician, writer, curator, and businessman.
In 2019, he was honored as an artist and the executive director of the African Modern Art Fund when he was listed on Forbes Africa’s “30 Under 30”.
In addition, he claimed that other professionals in the art industry “have quietly expressed witnessing this pattern of predatory behavior [and] that this behavior by Kehinde has been treated as an open secret within the art world for quite some time.”
Wiley is also said to have allegedly abused other people in New York, Beijing, Nigeria, and other places.
According to a New York Times report, Wiley has not been charged criminally for any of the alleged assaults.
The report also stated that Awuah-Darko was served with a cease-and-desist letter by Wiley’s attorneys, requesting that the Ghanaian artist remove his Instagram posts and desist from making what the lawyers claimed were false statements against Wiley.
However, The New York Times was informed by Awuah-Darko that he had not seen the letter.
Awuah-Darko closed his Instagram post with, “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 you will need it, I promise you.”
