Afrika Bambaataa’s sexual assault accuser recants sexual assault claims.
Ronald “Bee-Stinger” Savage, who accused Bambaataa of sexual assault, walks backs his claims that the hip-hop pioneer sexually abused him as a teenager.
During an interview with AllHipHop, Savage expresses, “Bambaataa is not a pedophile and, in my eyes, he was doing something that was consensual with someone that he thought was of age,” explained Savage. “I wish, back in 2016, I remembered about the fake ID- I wasn’t thinking about that I had forgot about that I was in deep depression and still dealing with the trauma as an adult. I want to apologize for the little kid that didn’t know anybody and just wanted to be down with this thing called Hip-Hop so I pretended to be older.”
He continued, “This is something that took place 35 to over 40 years ago. This man has never been convicted of anything. Let it go. I needed to set the record straight [and get] my closure.”
Savage, hopes his statement can bring “healing to people around the world.”
Abuse Claims:
Savage first accused Bambaataa of sexual assault in 2016. At the time, he claimed he was 15 years old when Bambaataa began abusing him. He claimed the alleged abuse caused deep emotional wounds that led to suicidal thoughts.
At the time, Bambaataa denied all of the allegations. “I never abused nobody. You know, it just sounds crazy to people to say that, hear ‘you abused me,’” he exclaimed. “You know my thing is you know all my people back then, you know the hundreds of people that been around me. If something like that happened, why you never went to none of them?”
In 2016, The Zulu Nation issued a public apology to the alleged victims of Bamabaataa. “We extend our deepest and most sincere apologies to the many people who have been hurt by the actions of Afrika Bambaataa and the subsequent poor response of our organization to allegations leveled against him,” the statement, which was signed by nearly three dozen Zulu Nation members, reads.
“To the survivors of apparent sexual molestation by Bambaataa, both those who have come forward and others who have not, we are sorry for what you endured and extend our thanks to those who have spoken out for your bravery in bringing to light that which most of us were sadly unaware of, and others chose not to disclose.”