A woman named @moneyymaya on social media recently posted a concerning tweet hinting at potential harm and seemingly pointing towards Talib Kweli as responsible. Following this, there was an outpouring of support from users, expressing solidarity with Maya. The situation escalated as the Black Star member, a well-known figure, responded on Instagram, referencing a legal matter and accusing Maya of making false statements about him, which intensified the online dispute.
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Talib Kweli is one-half of the Black Star duo who recently collaborated after 24 years, with the release of their new album in 2022. Kweli has been accused by a woman named Maya Angelique, also known as @moneyymaya on social media, of allegedly harassing her for three years on social media.
Maya Angelique, also known as Maya Moody, took to Twitter, creating a thread on Saturday, Nov. 18, where she posted a disturbing message that read:
“If I am murdered, you know who is responsible.”
The tweet caught the attention of many, including social media influencer @keyon, who expressed support for Angelique, writing:
“The way he’s been at it for years now I’m so sorry Maya. Praying for your safety.”
Responding to Angelique’s tweets, Talib Kweli reposted her messages on Instagram, alongside a caption writing:
“When you lie about me I tell the truth about you. Recently judge David A. Oblson in a VA court entered a default judgment against Maya Moody AKA Money Maya on my defamation claim related to her lies about me. Case No. CL-2023-115500. So naturally, today Money Maya is suggesting that I rape children and saying that I’m coming to murder her. Again. All of you who said ‘So if she lying sue her,’ got your wish. The court of public opinion doesn’t count in actual court. All of ya’ll who said I was lying about this case swipe left. Feel free to leave your apologies in the comment section below.”
According to Angelique’s tweets, the alleged harassment began on July 10, 2020. In a series of tweets in April 2021, she detailed:
“Since I was told by my lawyer this week I legally cannot do much of anything to defend or protect myself against this harassment, Talib Kweli is still lying on, slandering, and harassing me for talking about colorism. He has been since July 10, 2020. He HAS NOT STOPPED.” She continued, “He went on SIRIUSXM Radio on the Roxanne Shante show on March 1, 2021 lying saying I had people threatening his family and that I was attacking him, self victimizing himself and saying he was kicked off twitter for defending him. In reality, it is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE.”
The alleged harassment reportedly started when Angelique commented on a tweet listing hip-hop icons married to Black women, including Talib Kweli. She remarked:
“Literally almost all of them are married to light-skinned women, but that’s a conversation for another day.”
In response, Kweli warned her:
“I can go for 13 years if you come for my family. I’m just getting started.” He then replied to a sequence of users, asserting, “Or what? I can persist in this for 2 years. If ya’ll grow weary after 2 days, maybe ya’ll should have selected a weaker target.” “And I will persist for 12 years unless she either apologizes for the disrespect toward me and my family or deletes her account. What the hell are you gonna do about it? Pick a weaker target next time.”
Angelique expressed her gratitude to R&B artist Noname for being the only celebrity to denounce Kweli’s actions:
“Thank you NoName, who is literally the ONLY celebrity that has denounced Talib Kweli’s continuous stalking and harassment of me. Thank you for not enabling him like all of his other peers. I love you and I am grateful for you.” The rapper Noname had criticized Kweli during his frequent messages to Moody, saying on Twitter: “The silence from male rappers while talib kweli harassed black women for weeks, disgusting.”
Kweli himself addressed the situation in an interview with media outlet The Grio in 2020. He explained:
“The reason why it caught my eyes was because it mentioned my name. [The original poster] was responding to someone who said the only rapper who married a Black woman is Snoop. His response was to make a list of rappers who are married to Black women, to sort of combat the idea that rappers don’t marry Black women. When I saw his tweet, including my name as a rapper who married a Black woman, even though I’m not with my wife any longer, I was proud to be included in the group. Right under his tweet, I saw a comment from Maya Moody.”
He also stated:
“I don’t know her at all. I believe her name is Maya Moody. She’s somebody who followed me on Twitter. And then I followed back as recently as 2016. I remember that I did unfollow her. I don’t recall the reason. But I suspect that unfollowing her is part of the story. I sent you a tweet from 2016 when I stopped following her to which she said “Talib, love you forever.” And then I retweeted it and added to it [with] prayer hands [emoji].”
The music industry has been rocked by various disturbing revelations recently. R&B singer Cassie made serious allegations against Diddy, accusing him of sexual and physical abuse during their long-term relationship.
