It’s nothing new in the world of the mega rich and powerful, sometimes they overstep the bounds of appropriate behaviour and have people coming after them; more often than not, their limitless wealth buys them their way out of that trouble.
There are very few people who would stare down the barrel of money they would probably not see again for the rest of their lifetime and have the fortitude to remain steadfast.
It’s not right, but sometimes that’s just the way the world works.
The recent saga involving suave media personality Kwesi Kyei Darkwa(KKD) just came to an abrupt end somewhere last week, leaving one to wonder what might have led to the near termination of the suit when the substantive case has not even been brought before a judge.
KKD was accused of raping the 19 year old girl Ewuraeffe Thompson after the two had a liaison at the African Regent Hotel. KKD and his attorneys insisted the two had consensual sex, but the issue of consent was still a contentious one that had to be proven in the court of law, irrespective of what videos they released into the media.
The aftermath also saw several ladies coming forward with alleged stories of similar encounters with KKD, calling to mind the global story involving Bill Cosby. It made one wonder; was this pair of powerful men who felt they could flout the rules because of their standing, consequences be damned?
Bill Cosby himself and a host of international celebrities have in the past paid off accusers to withdraw their cases. Our question is, can KKD now be considered an august member of that list? We leave you to judge.
Here are just a few celebrities who have engaged in similar acts in the past, per Worthly Entertainment…
- Sean Kingston
The singer was accused of assaulting a 22 year old lady, and rather than go to trial, he settled out of court with an undisclosed cash settlement.
- Donte Stallworth
Donte was a former NFL player who once hit a pedestrian with his car when returning from a party. Whilst he was found to have been driving whilst drunk, a cash settlement to the victim’s family and the entire suit was dropped.
- David Boreanaz
The actor was accused by an extra on his Tv show ‘Bones’ of sexual assault. After some back and forth, a settlement was reached and both sides went their ways.
- Marilyn Manson
Another sexual assault case, this time from a security guard: the case travelled for a while, three years. But eventually an out of court settlement was reached for an undisclosed sum.
- Kobe Bryant
He also got involved with a lady who claimed he sexually assaulted her. Kobe maintained it was consensual, and after a few court dates Kobe settled the lady who subsequently dropped the suit
- Bill Cosby
In case you did not know, this recent cases are not the first time Cosby has found himself in hot soup for sexual assault. There was a suit in 2004 which was more of a class action than anything else, but at a point the initial accuser got paid off, and the whole thing went away.
- Britney Spears
Oh yeah, the ladies have their troubles too. Britney was accused by a former bodyguard of making inappropriate passes, and she fessed up some dough to make the whole thing go away, fast.
- Kanye West
Yeezus got himself into hot soup for beating up an 18 year old who yelled racial insults at Mrs West. After being charged with criminal battery, Ye agreed to a $250,000 settlement, which saw all charges dropped and him being placed on probation.
- R-Kelly
We all remember this one, when the soul singer got in trouble for sleeping with a minor. Like Ye, he settled for $250,000, though he got acquitted in the preceding trial.
- Roman Polanski
As a director he’s peerless, but charges of giving drugs and alcohol, as well as sexual assault, of a 13 year old girl threatened to have him incarcerated. After a long battle, they settled for $600,000 and everything just went back to normal for Polanski.
- Ben Roethlisberger
The giant sized American footballer was accused of sexual assault by a hotel employee after his side won the Super Bowl. Rather than a prolonged trial, he just agreed to pay the victim his earnings from a single game; a figure anywhere between 600-700 thousand dollars.
- Mario Batali
Celebrity chef Mario Batali faced a class action suit from former employees claiming he defrauded them of some of their rightful earnings. The out of court settlement reached was in the region of $5.2 million
- ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson
Tyson was accused of domestic abuse and sexual assault of then wife, actress Robin Givens. In the following messy, public divorce, the actress was awarded $10 million that ended the association of the pair.
- Eddie Murphy
The legendary actor/comedian had a child with a former Spice Girl which he refused to own up to. After it was proved he was the father, he settled to pay $50, 000 every month until the child turned 18. $10.5 million in total.
- Michael Jackson
These accusations of child molestation against the King of Pop never really went away, but in the most famous case, Michael settled with the family of his 13 year old accuser to an amount anywhere between $15-25 million.
- Kwesi Kyei Darkwa?
He was accused of sexually assaulting a 19 year old girl, despite vehemently maintaining it was consensual sex. After a protracted battle to gain bail, the suit was abruptly dropped by his accuser. Looking at all these cases, it’s difficult to reach any other conclusion than a settlement. What do you think?
Hmmm as3m oo