John Doe Who Accused Afrika Bambaataa Of Sexual Abuse Requests Default Judgment In Lawsuit

Source: Taylor Hill / Getty

An anonymous man who sued hip-hop forefather Afrika Bambaataa for alleged child sex abuse is requesting a default judgment in the lawsuit. According to legal documents obtained by AllHipHop, the plaintiff’s lawyer Hugo G. Ortega is requesting a default judgment on the grounds that Bambaataa “failed to appear in this matter or to answer the plaintiff’s complaint, and the time limited by law for him to do so has expired.”

In 2021, Bambaataa, born Lance Taylor, was sued by a Bronx man who claimed he sexually abused in the 1990s from the time he was 12-years-old. The man, whose called “John Doe” in court documents, also claimed that the “Planet Rock” rapper would take him to be sexually abused by other men as well.  The lawsuit states that “from 1991, when the Plaintiff was merely 12 years old, to 1995, the Plaintiff was repeatedly sexually abused and sex trafficked at the hands of” Bambaataa, referred to in the lawsuit by his birth name Lance Taylor.”

The plaintiff alleged that the abuse started after he began using Bambaataa’s home gym in his Bronx, New York apartment. In the lawsuit, he claims that Bambaataa would make inappropriate comments about his muscular build and would touch him on his shoulders, biceps and torso. This allegedly progressed to touching him on his private areas. The plaintiff said Bambaataa would also force him to watch pornographic videos and then “encourage Plaintiff to masturbating,” which soon after “progressed to mutual masturbation and later “progressed to sodomy.” He also accused Bambaataa of sex trafficking him.

“Plaintiff became a victim of sex trafficking as Defendant Taylor would transport Plaintiff to other locations and offer Plaintiff for sex to other adult men,” the lawsuit stated. “During said encounters Defendant Taylor would watch as Plaintiff was sodomized by other adult men.”

The Zulu Nation, Universal Zulu Nation and XYZ Corp are also named in the lawsuit due to being accused of helping Bambaataa target and groom young boys.

He is claiming that he has “suffered physical injury, severe and permanent emotional distress, mental anguish, depression, and embarrassment,” as a result of the sexual abuse and that it has “prevented from obtaining the full enjoyment of life and has been unable to keep a steady job. As a result, Plaintiff has incurred loss of income and/or loss of earning capacity.”

Bambaataa’s lawyer, Vivian K. Tozaki, released a statement to AllHipHop denying all claims against him.

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.

Bambaataa has also been accused of sexual abuse. A man named Ronald Savage came forward in 2016 and claimed he had started sexually abusing him when he was 15-years-old according to VICE. Three men came forward after. Savage used to carry Bambaataa’s records for him as a teenager and accused him of making him perform oral sex on another Zulu Nation member.