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 assaulted twice by Wiley at a dinner held by Ghana’s Creative Art Council at the Noldor Artist Residency. Awuah-Darko says that two hours into he and Wiley’s acquaintance, Wiley groped his buttocks, “The act was categorically unwelcome and unprovoked,” he wrote. “The second assault was much more severe and violent.” Awuah-Darko did not further describe the second assault, but said it has taken him a long time to “confront the reality of my abuse as such.” He says he is “actively seeking legal action and hope that speaking about my abuse will empower other victims to do the same.”

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