Artist Kehinde Wiley is facing a lawsuit in New York from a woman named Ogechi Chieke, who alleges that he sexually assaulted her at a restaurant in 2007. The suit, filed under New York's Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, claims Wiley forcibly groped her after a gallery opening. Wiley denies the allegations, stating he has never met Chieke and calling the lawsuit a "blatant money-grab." This is the first time an accusation against Wiley has been filed in court, following four separate allegations of sexual misconduct made against him last year by other individuals, including artist Joseph Awuah-Darko, historian Terrell Armistead, and activist Derrick Ingram.
This lawsuit matters because it marks a legal escalation in the allegations against one of the most prominent living American artists, known for his portrait of Barack Obama. The previous accusations led three major US museums—the Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Minneapolis Museum of Art, and the Joslyn Art Museum—to postpone or cancel solo exhibitions of Wiley's work. The outcome of this case could have significant implications for Wiley's career, the art world's handling of misconduct allegations, and the broader conversation about accountability in cultural institutions.