Afrika Bambaataa, the founder of the Universal Zulu Nation and one of the architects of Hip Hop culture, continues to wade in legal waters.
On Monday, Apr. 11, a “John Doe” filed a motion for default judgment against the Bronx native in the Bronx Supreme Court on a case involving sexual abuse of a child.
John Doe claimed Bambaataa molested him for four years in the early 1990s, starting when he was a 12-year-old.
The complaint, which was obtained exclusively by AllHipHop.com, was filed by Hugo G. Ortega on behalf of the anonymous plaintiff, believing his client should be granted a default judgment against Bam, whose real name is Lance Johnson because he “failed to appear in this matter or to answer the plaintiff’s complaint” in the allotted time given by the court.
It seems that Bam has not been reached since the end of last year.
It is alleged he used his fame and power, as an early pioneer, to coerce young people to do sexual acts.
Afrika Bambaataa denied the allegations via an exclusive statement to AllHipHop.com, issued by his lawyer at the time, Vivian K. Tozaki.
She said, “Recently, defamatory statements were published seeking to harm my client’s reputation so as to lower him in the estimation of the community while deterring others from associating or dealing with him.”
“The statements show a reckless disregard for the truth, were published with knowledge of their falsity, and are being made by a lesser-known person seeking publicity. Valuable cultural resources, such as Afrika Bambaataa’s good name and time, should never be used to assist a mediocre person’s asinine quest for social media popularity and superficial gain.”