Kehinde Wiley, the renowned American painter behind the official portrait of President Barack Obama hanging in the Smithsonian, is facing accusations that he sexually assaulted an up-and-coming artist nearly two decades ago.
Wiley, however, says the entire thing is made up.
In a lawsuit filed Friday and obtained by The Independent, Ogechi Chieke says she met the star portraitist at a 2007 art show and was “flattered” by his interest in her work.
After the show, Chieke and Wiley both attended a dinner at a nearby restaurant, her complaint states. While they were waiting to be seated, the complaint alleges Wiley “began to press his chest against Ms. Chieke’s chest,” after which he “proceeded to grab Ms. Chieke’s buttocks with both hands and pulled her closer to him.”
“Wiley then forcibly grabbed her vagina – causing her severe pain – and whispered that he ‘would lick that p***y so clean,’” according to the complaint.
Chieke, the complaint goes on, was “offended and distraught” by this, and left the restaurant before dinner.
“Additionally, Ms. Chieke was so traumatized from being sexually assaulted by Wiley that, within a month, she uprooted her life in New York and relocated to California,” the complaint contends. “Ms. Chieke also stopped working in fine art, causing her significant income, due to the trauma inflicted upon her by Wiley.”
The alleged attack occurred in New York City, Chieke’s attorney, Reyna Lubin, told The Independent.
“Mr. Wiley’s actions violated the law and Ms. Chieke’s civil rights, and we look forward to pursuing justice for our client,” Lubin said in an emailed statement.
In a statement of his own, Wiley vehemently denied Chieke’s claims.
“There is no truth to Ms. Chieke’s allegations,” he told The Independent. “I’ve never met her, nor do I know her.”
The case was filed under the Gender Motivated Violence Act, a New York City statute allowing survivors of sexual assault to bring civil claims against their alleged attackers that otherwise would be time-barred by the statute of limitations. It provides a so-called lookback window that opened on March 1, 2023, and will close on Saturday.
Wiley, who identifies as gay but said he has “occasionally drifted,” has faced similar accusations before. In an Instagram post last year, British-born Ghanaian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko claimed Wiley grabbed his buttocks during a 2021 dinner held in Wiley’s honor, then later that evening assaulted him in a way that was “much more severe and violent.” He didn’t provide further details on social media, but told The New York Times that the second incident began as a consensual encounter that turned ugly when Wiley forced himself on him.
The alleged attack “almost destroyed me,” Awuah-Darko wrote in his online post.
Wiley flatly denied any wrongdoing, posting in response, “Someone I had a brief, consensual relationship with almost three years ago is now making a false accusation about our time together. These claims are not true and are an affront to all victims of sexual abuse.”
He claimed to have “no idea why” Awuah-Darko made such an allegation, “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.”
Lawyers for Wiley shared a cease-and-desist letter with CNN that demanded Awuah-Darko delete the “categorically false and defamatory” post, calling the assertions “malicious” and accusing Awuah-Darko of capitalizing on Wiley’s fame for “financial gain and attention.” (Awuah-Darko’s post is still up, as of Friday.)
Wiley has faced similar allegations in the past, with at least three others who also went public with claims of sexual assault by the acclaimed portraitist. Activist Derrick Ingram said last year that Wiley raped him at his Soho apartment in 2021; filmmaker Nathaniel Lloyd Richards accused Wiley of touching him inappropriately during a date in 2019; and, in a now-deleted Instagram post, photographer Terrell Armistead claimed he fell asleep at Wiley’s residence following a night out, then woke up to find Wiley performing oral sex on him.
At the time, Barrett, Wiley’s lawyer, contended the claims were part of a “scurrilous campaign” launched by Awuah-Darko “to support his vendetta and build his fake case.”
For her part, Chieke’s complaint says Wiley’s “violent sexual assaults” have caused her severe psychological and emotional distress. She is asking for compensatory, nominal, punitive, and exemplary damages to be determined by a jury, plus attorneys’ fees.
