By Charlene Williams and James Freeman
(photo/ Instagram Live screenshot Gabriella Castillo / Teyonie Davis on July 4)
KOTA the Friend is a Brooklyn-based hip hop artist and producer who has grown his career as a completely Independent artist, turning down major record label deals along the way. He has over 5 million listeners worldwide. In his songs, which he writes and produces, he talks about toxic relationships, loving yourself and being independent. He has been labeled by hip hop media as a “wholesome” rapper, but Kota states in some of his songs that “people think my life is perfect“, but has been quoted in multiple interviews saying that he has the same problems as everyone else.
Recently a couple of his ex-girlfriends took to Twitter to level some serious allegations and accusations against him of physical and sexual abuse. One of the accusers eventually went on to say in subsequent tweets that he is neither, instead writing that it was more mental and emotional. Needless to say social media had a field day on Twitter after her initial post, with people calling him a rapist and abuser. Since that time information has come out questioning the validity of these claims and the sources of the claims.
It looks like the two ex-girlfriends were working together in an attempt to hurt Kota’s rising career. Teyonie Davis, who started the allegations on June 29, wrote on Twitter that she had evidence contained in a police report that she filed on March 17 about alleged physical and sexual abuse, but there has been no evidence that a police report exists or was ever filed by Ms. Davis against Kota. We reached out to Ms. Davis about the allegations and the alleged March 17th police report but she did not respond to our emails nor did she reply to our messages on social media.
Gabrielle Castillo and Teyonie Davis together at a party June 13.
It was later found out that the two women knew each other and were seen partying together on June 13, two weeks prior to when the Twitter allegations began, while Ms. Davis and Kota were still in a relationship. The photo to the right is a screenshot that has been circulating around social media showing the two women together at a party on June 13, 2021. The allegations began on Twitter 16 days later, on June 29.
Ms. Davis wrote on Twitter that she found another woman that Kota abused (talking about Gabriella Castillo), as if the two women didn’t know each other. Ms. Davis and Ms. Castillo retweeted each other’s tweets, almost in unison, for the next 8 days. In some instances they wrote the same exact allegations with the exact same wording. Many of their personal friends joined in, retweeting and calling Kota a rapist and abuser.
To further sensationalize her story Ms. Davis said she met Kota when she was 16 but it was later found out that she was 17 and they did not have any type of relationship nor any sexual contact. She contacted Kota years later through social media when she was in her twenties, which is when they started their year-long relationship. She later went on to clarify that fact in her posts, but the damage had already been done with the original sensational headline that she posted saying they met when she was 16. This led to people on social media to then add “grooming” to the false allegations that were now spreading..
We were informed by other ex-girlfriends of Kota that Ms. Davis and Ms. Castillo reached out to them via email and social media to try to get them on board, but they were unsuccessful in getting other women to join in. When one of the women Ms. Davis reached out to didn’t agree to participate in the campaign against Kota, Ms. Davis sent the woman a message on social media informing the woman, “If you don’t want to be brought into this I suggest you not watch my shit”, in reference to Ms. Davis’ Instagram Story posts.
As they continued to retweet each other’s allegations, the two were captured on Instagram Live partying and celebrating together on the 4th of July. The video footage is below, and it’s disturbing to watch knowing that while they were celebrating Kota was enduring an onslaught of public allegations made by these women.
We were informed that Ms. Davis showed up at Kota’s home unannounced, while Kota’s DJ was present, in an attempt to get back together. However, Kota was not interested in getting back together because their relationship was “toxic”. That same evening Ms. Davis went to Twitter to post about allegations of abuse.
Kota stated in a letter to his fans, “I’ve wanted nothing greater than to defend myself. With the threats, false and private information regarding my family being circulated online, my primary concern was making sure they were safe (before any statement was made). The anonymity of the internet is dangerous and I wanted to be as transparent as possible with you all through this process.”
Kota added, “these disgraceful claims of physical and sexual abuse are all false. I stand with any woman or man that speaks out against sexual and physical abuse.” He went on to say, “I’m disgusted to have to publicly deny claims of sexual and physical abuse.”
It is well documented through social media that Kota had long term relationships with both women. He was engaged to Gabriella in 2019 and most recently was in a year-long relationship with Ms. Davis before their recent breakup.
The action of these two women is not the type of solidarity that the #MeToo Movement stands for. There has to be accountability for those who use the #MeToo Movement as a tool for vendettas or heartbreak. In this day of the internet, we don’t want the #MeToo Movement to become yet another tool to hurt innocent black men. Anyone who has a son, brother, father, nephew, male cousin, uncle or male friend should be deeply concerned about false allegations that can possibly be made against them so easily. This is becoming a very real problem.
Updated 1/17/22
Kota the Friend released a full album (Lyrics to Go Volume 3) and a short film (Long Journey Home), to tell his story about what happened in his relationship with his ex-girlfriend who levied the accusations against him on social media. The internet accusations never led to any arrest, charges or complaints to any city agency.
(After this orginal article was published Ms Davis posted a police report from 2020 on social media but there were no names, no allegations of physical or sexual abuse and no injuries on the report that she posted. It was basically a blank police report)
Update: Kota the Friend Addresses False Accusations Made Against Him on His Podcast, Free Not Woke
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