Culture

Kanye West Defends ASAP Bari Following Sexual Assault Allegations

Source: Screengrab via BBC Radio 1/YouTube

With a rumored new album on the way Kanye West is starting to stir up controversy again.

Kanye West shared a social media post Wednesday night supporting ASAP Mob co-founder and VLONE co-founder ASAP Bari, who was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault earlier this year. Bari ended up suing his accuser for defamation.

READ: Kanye West Comes At Drake For Not Shutting Down Kim Kardashian Affair Rumors

The post is a still of West and Bari via FaceTime with the following caption:

“There’s no way I would have the number 1 record in the world without this man here. He broke me out of my pretentious rich nigga shell. Bari challenged me when no one else did and when he got in trouble I was scared to say he was my friend just like I did with xxx and that was some pussy shit on my part. I let the perception and the robots control me. That’s the true sunken place. Bari I appreciate your perspective and vision. You brought me closer to Rocky too. Jedis never let perception and cancel culture get between them.”

Following the allegations against Bari, his VLONE deal with Nike was terminated.

The incident stems back to 2017, when a video surfaced that allegedly showed him sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel bedroom.

Bari called the video “misleading” in a statement with Billboard while adding:

“Comments about myself or anyone being detained or arrested are false. We have resolved this issue amicably among all parties as adults. We were friends before this and will remain friends afterwards. Being raised by strong women who taught me to respect everyone, I’m disappointed in the situation as well as myself and will reflect on the situation appropriately.”

Recently, the ye rapper called out Drake for not shutting down rumors that he had an affair with Kim Kardashian.

“The fact that people are making rumors and thinking that you fucked my wife and you’re not saying anything and you’re carrying it well like that. Don’t sit well with my spirit…,” the rapper said. “So when you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know where it comes from.’ You’re too smart for that, bro. You know where it came from.”

Elijah C. Watson

Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When he's not writing he's listening to Sade and crying or watching My Hero Academia with his partner.

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