CNN —Kehinde Wiley, the American artist best known for painting former US President Barack Obama’s official portrait, has denied accusations of sexual assault.
In an Instagram post shared Sunday, British-Ghanaian artist and curator Joseph Awuah-Darko alleged Wiley sexually assaulted him twice in 2021.
Awuah-Darko said the first incident occurred on June 9, 2021, at a dinner held at the Noldor Artist Residency in Ghana, to celebrate Wiley’s work.
In Sunday’s Instagram post, he wrote that reporting the assault in Ghana “would have been problematic at best — dangerous at worst,” given the country’s broader attitudes towards LGBTQ people.
Wiley rose to international fame in 2017, when he was chosen to paint Obama’s official portrait for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Persons:
CNN — Kehinde Wiley, Barack Obama’s, Joseph Awuah, Darko, Wiley, Awuah, ” Awuah, ”, ” Wiley, “, Kehinde Wiley, Barack Obama, Mark Wilson, I’m
Organizations:
CNN, New York Times, Getty, ” CNN, Wiley, Ghana “, Yale University
Locations:
British, Ghanaian, Ghana, Accra, Washington , DC, Nigeria, New York, Ghana’s