Pouya’s (Alleged) History of Sexual Assault
On April 18th 2017, a 21-year old woman by the name of Ellie went to go see the South Florida recording artist Ghostemane perform at Shakas in Virginia Beach. She had purchased VIP passes just for the chance to meet one of her favorite rappers. After the show ended, Ellie headed to the merch booth/ meet and greet to get her complimentary t-shirt (a perk of the VIP pass). It was here she met Pouya, another artist featured on the tour. Once they got to talking, Pouya quickly figured out that she was there to see Ghostemane. Pouya then offered to bring her to their hotel so she could hang out with him in person. Excited by the chance to hang out with one of her favorite artists, Ellie agreed. Pouya told her to grab the merch guy’s number (Daniel Dopico) so he could let her know which hotel they were staying at. She exchanged numbers with Mr. Dopico, got the address of the hotel, and headed there for the chance to party with Ghostemane.
At 3:40 am on April 19th, Ellie messaged her friend Josh to pick her up because “the weirdest shit just happened.” According to Ellie, once she arrived at the hotel and met up with Pouya and his tour mate Fat Nick, Ellie was allegedly taken advantage of by Pouya, “his producer [Flexatelli], and his merch guy [Daniel Dopico].”
There have been several other allegations against Pouya and his crew, detailed through various screenshots on the HipHopHeads subreddit, including one person alleging she was forced to perform oral sex on Fat Nick while the rest of his team watched. Another person has stated that Pouya allegedly held her down while Fat Nick attempted to have intercourse with her restrained body, with another individual alleging that after a meet and greet, Pouya’s brother escorted her friends out, only to tell her that Pouya was about to “have his way with [her]”.
This information came to light in September of 2017 when Ellie posted the screenshots to her Twitter, which then ignited a flurry of responses from other women who have allegedly been victimized by Pouya, Fat Nick, and their team. Twitter was fired up; Ellie’s post garnered hundreds of retweets and likes, dozens of people poured out their support to Ellie and the other women who posted their stories, and multiple fans called for a response from Pouya. Everything seemed to be reaching a boiling point before being unexpectedly and unintentionally washed out by the sea of sexual assault allegations that had just broken in the world of underground rap.
Kodak Black, A$AP Bari, Adam22, and Ian Connor, four prominent figures in the world of underground rap, had all been accused of sexual assault. In April of 2017, Kodak Black was indicted by a grand jury pertaining to his charge of criminal sexual conduct relating to an alleged sexual assault occurring after a February 2016 performance in South Carolina. In July of 2017, a video surfaced of A$AP Bari apparently restraining a woman, demanding she perform oral sex on him while she repeatedly yells for him to stop. Desiree Elyda has accused Adam Grandmaison (better known as Adam22) of engaging in unwanted sexual contact beginning when she was 16, resulting in an alleged rape in June of 2009. As of Febuary 2018, 21 rape allegations have surfaced against Ian Connor.
The allegations against Pouya emerged right in the midst of xxxtentacion’s trial for aggravated battery of a pregnant woman (it should be noted that the victim in xxxtentacion’s case has signed an affidavit requesting that the charges be dropped), just after the video of A$AP Bari came to prominence, and right before the news of Kodak Black’s indictment for criminal sexual conduct broke on most media outlets. The underground rap community is very small and has a tendency to forget, and perhaps most troubling, a tendency to continue to support abusers just because they make music they enjoy. Pouya’s fan base is a prime example of these behaviors.
It has been just over a year since Pouya’s performance at Shakas in Virginia Beach. Since then, Pouya has put out two albums, remains active on social media, and constantly interacts with his fans who ask benign questions like what he thinks about J.Cole. However, the requests from fans for a response to his alleged sexual assaults are still met with silence. The requests get fewer in number each and every day, but no matter how many people may seem to forget, the survivors certainly have not.
There has been a lot of evidence presented on the HipHopHeads subreddit, including texts and DMs from the survivors with Pouya’s producer, proving that they were invited to the hotel, various text messages requesting help that fall right within the timeline of the survivor’s accounts, and a pervasive history of aggressive interactions with female fans including a general attitude of disregard for women as a whole.
In a July 2015 episode of No Jumper, starting at 14:26, Pouya states,“And we take their phones… I just came out the shower and broke her phone or kicked her phone down.” Later in the interview at 38:45, Adam22 asks Pouya, “You have girls that would straight up just slave away, do whatever the fuck you tell ’em to do, huh?” To which Pouya responds, “Yeah, I would say, I would say man, like some of them.” At 39:26, Pouya goes on to to reinforce his possessive nature towards women, stating, “You can’t wife up a girl that has a fuckin’ Pouya tat… That’s my girl, that’s my bitch.” Pouya caps it all off when at 39:55, he sums up his views on the women who would be interested in him, “You know what’s the irony of the situation? Any girl that fucks me is a fuckin’ whore.” Fat Nick chimes in at 40:30, adding, “Every girl is a whore.”
REFERENCES
https://twitter.com/x_vigilant/status/910627243583528962 Ellie’s story
https://www.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/7cp8ih/pouya_and_fat_nick_sexual_assault_multiple/ /r/HipHopHeads thread detailing the known allegations
https://imgur.com/r/hiphopheads/TQnUK Screenshots of all known allegations against Pouya, Fat Nick, and their team
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-reg-kodak-black-south-carolina-grand-jury-20171009-story.html Kodak Black’s grand jury indictment relating to the Febuary 2016 sexual assault allegation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTLTooRxuFU Video of A$AP Bari allegedly forcing a woman to perform a sexual act
https://pitchfork.com/news/sexual-assault-allegations-against-adam22-of-no-jumper-detailed-by-two-women/ Desiree Elyda’s history with Adam22
http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/21-rape-allegations-later-kanye-west-muse-ian-connor-remains-in-fashions-inner-circle Ian Connor’s history of sexual assault
https://pitchfork.com/news/xxxtentacion-prosecutors-plan-to-split-up-his-case/ Information pertaining to xxxtentacion’s on-going case, dealing with his charge of aggravated battery of a pregnant victim
https://youtu.be/HW7idhTOaIY?t=14m13s No Jumper Interview from July 2015 in which Pouya and Fat Nick detail their sexual history with fans, including confiscating/ breaking phones, lining up with Ellie’s story