Talib Kweli is suing Jezebel magazine for publishing an article about his preference for light-skinned women.
Jezebel published the article after the legendary rapper was kicked off Twitter for harassing Black women in August 2020.
Twitter banned Kweli he and his fans harassed a Black Twitter user named Maya A. Moody who accused Black rappers of colorism in their dating choices.
Kweli was offended that he was grouped with other rappers who prefer light-skinned women.
“Are we talking all of my relationships?” he asked Moody in a tweet in July 2020.
“My children’s mother as well? I mean, is any of this really your business?” he wrote before launching into an hours-long attack on Moody.
The following month, Jezebel magazine published an article titled, “Talib Kweli’s Harassment Campaign Shows How Unprotected Black Women Are Online and Off.”
Kweli claimed the article cost him $1M in revenue, and lost bookings.
Kweli’s wife, DJ EQ, filed for divorce months after Moody tagged her in her tweets to Kweli.
On Monday, August 8, Kweli filed a defamation lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against G/O Media and writer Ashley Reese claiming emotional distress and partial financial ruin.
According to court documents, “The defendant negligently breached that duty by taking all the facts that the plaintiff stated and publishing them on the articles for 11 million plus to witness as they tried every [angle] to prove his facts were false, then attacked everything about his career, life, age, family.”
The court documents continued: “The magazine took advantage of Talib and used him as a guinea pig to clarify how Black men treat Black women. Meanwhile, the plaintiff never harassed anyone; he was defending himself and his family.”
Kweli included his single “Brown Skin Lady” which suggests American Black males are “conditioned” to prefer light-skinned women with straight hair that curls loosely when wet.
Kweli is seeking $300,000 in damages plus legal fees.
