Former record label exec/Bronx Democratic activist Ronald Savage has accused influential hip-hop DJ/producer Africa Bambaataa, then 23, of sexually molesting him when he was 15. Savage, who was known as “Bee Stinger” when he was running with the Zulu Nation in the 1970s, details the alleged abuse in a self-published book, Impulse Urges and Fantasies. Savage says he’s speaking out because he wants to change New York’s statute of limitations, which bars child sexual abuse victims from pursuing criminal charges or civil penalties after their 23rd birthday.
In the memoir Savage claims the abuse took place at least five times. He says that he did not report the incidents to the police out of fear for his family, but he later spoke of the alleged abuse to his ex-wife, girlfriends and mother.
Bambaataa’s attorney Vivian Kimi Tozaki issued the following statement about Savage’s book. “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.”
In a video interview below conducted by the New York Daily News, Savage details the alleged abuse in graphic detail but says he isn’t interested in a financial settlement. “I’m not looking for any compensation from Afrika Bambaataa. That’s not what this is about….The only thing I wanted is for this man to answer the question: Why me?”
Update April 18, 2016: Three more men have come forward, alleging that they were molested by Bambaataa.