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It started off simple enough.
Angela Rye was sharing some pictures of herself taking part in a pretty powerful panel for the Woman Evolve Conference alongside Sarah Jakes Roberts, Cora Jakes Coleman and Caitlin Crosby this weekend in Denver. In the caption for that picture, surprisingly, the outspoken political commentator was asked to speak on past sexual assault allegations against “your friend” Charlamagne Tha God that resurfaced.
“Angela are you going to speak on your friend Charlagmagne allegedly drugging then raping a 15 year old girl years ago. I know you speak up for black women being respected but for some reason your kinda quiet on this subject,” the individual wrote. “I hope you don’t let it slide and hope for it to go away…..I’m just thinking out loud.”
We don’t know if she personally calls him friend, but Rye has appeared on The Breakfast Club a few times, she’s been on his Brilliant Idiots podcast, and he’s said of the CNN contributor, she’s “my FAVORITE voice in all of media right now.”
In response, Rye didn’t let the allegations slide, but she did poke holes in the story when agreeing to speak on it.
“Since you opted to post about TWO different incidents and described neither of them accurately on my Jesus conference post, sure. My BROTHER is neither a molester nor a rapist. He never drugged anyone. He never touched the girl,” she wrote. “Read more about the incident from 2001 in his book Black Privilege and note that he regrets having a party where underaged folks where [sic] drinking when he was young and dumb (that’s the ONLY thing he pled to…why? Because there was no physical evidence connecting him to the girl. Why? Because he never touched her. I truly pray for her piece of mind. Truly. However, she will not ‘come up’ on my brother off a lie. I stand for truth before I stand for anything else. God bless you and your family.”
Charlamagne has maintained his innocence in regards to the claims that he assaulted a minor, however, he admitted in a podcast from a few years ago that he did put Spanish Fly in the drink of another young woman when she was drunk and had sex with her when she was incoherent. The next morning, she had no recollection of what happened.
“I did not rape her because me and her had every intention of having sex with each other,” he said during the 2015 Brilliant Idiots conversation. “She was one of those drunks who wasn’t coherent,” he added, “but she was up.”
As for the resurfaced rape allegations from 2001, he said once again in a statement to Billboard recently that he never had physical contact with the young woman in the case.
“Over seventeen years ago, I pled guilty to ‘Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor’ and served 3 years of probation after irresponsibly hosting a party where alcohol was served to minors,” he said. “I will forever regret my role in creating an environment that was less than safe. I cooperated with authorities, participated in multiple interviews and submitted to DNA testing. Ultimately the assault charge was dismissed because I had no physical contact with the alleged victim whatsoever.”
“I have never shied away from sharing the truth of my involvement in this matter,” he added. “As South Carolina’s Ninth Circuit Solicitor determined that this case will not be reopened, I do not plan to make any other formal statements on these very serious allegations. My hope and prayers are for healing for all those involved.”
