Atlanta soul singer Sky Whatley faces a lawsuit after viral video shows him slapping a woman at a recent concert.
The incident happened at the Londzell Performing Arts Theater in the Atlanta suburb of Tucker, Georgia, on September 6.
Shamika Boyd says she attended the concert to support her daughter, DJ Jada Boyd, who deejayed the set. Boyd said the slap left her with 2 black eyes.
Boyd told 11Alive that she was dancing at the stage, when Whatley reached down from the stage and slapped her.
Boyd initially believed Whatley was going to help her on stage to dance with him.
“When he hit me, I was devastated,” Boyd told the news station. “He had no reason to hit me. I did nothing to him. He was in no harm, no threat.”
“Then, to add insult to injury, after he flipped me off, he was like, ‘F— you, b—. This is for the real men.'”
A second video provides more context to Boyd’s actions leading up to the slap.
The footage shows Boyd dancing and grinding at the front of the stage. A crew member waved a towel at Boyd, and asked her to stop. But she continued.
The video then showed Whatley slap Boyd and appear to insult her. He asked for the music to be restarted.
When the Instagram page Cutting to the Chase shared the original video, it went viral on other platforms.
One person noted that none of the men in the audience moved to defend Boyd.
“I don’t understand why everybody still sitting down like nothing didn’t happen.”
Another person wrote, “Where the men at though!! Y’all just stood there and watched this.”
A third person commented: “Nobody stopped the show that’s wild! Real men?! None were there? Dawg would’ve gotten pulled off stage.”
Boyd’s attorneys, the Render Law Firm, announced she is pursuing legal action against Whatley, “and there is a pending criminal investigation”.
The law firm said Boyd will not make any further comments about the situation.
No arrest has been made.