Nigerian artist, Kehinde Wiley, has addressed the allegations made against him by his Ghanaian counterpart, Joseph Awuah-Darko.

While Kehinde acknowledged having had some form of relationship with Joseph three years prior, he emphasized that revisiting the past now was unnecessary.

“Someone I had a brief consensual relationship with almost three years ago is now making a false accusation about our time together," parts of his statement clarified.

He expressed dismay at Joseph's accusations, viewing them as an insult to all victims of sexual abuse, and suggesting they were part of a deliberate attempt to tarnish his reputation.

“These claims are not true and are an affront to all victims of sexual abuse. 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,” he added.

Despite this, Kehinde expressed hope that Joseph finds the support he requires for whatever he may be experiencing.

He also appealed for privacy as he endeavors to clear his name.

"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 retorted.

In a longer statement supplied to Artnet News via his press representative, Marathon Strategies, Wiley added, "He 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 in New York, sending me warm and cordial text messages, and almost a year ago to the day attending my exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and posting to Instagram that the show by his ‘dear friend’ was ‘breathtaking.”

The PR firm supplied screengrabs of numerous text messages exchanged between Awuah-Darko and Wiley spanning from the period of the alleged assault to Awuah-Darko's Instagram posts, which included the now-deleted May 27, 2023 post where Awuah-Darko affectionately refers to Wiley as "my dear friend."