Content warning: This article makes mention of multiple incidences of sexual assault, including a first-person text description of one incident in particular.
Kehlani is opening up about a sexual assault that occurred at one of their shows. In a since-deleted Instagram Story shared on Dec. 12, the musician, who just finished the European leg of her Blue Water Road tour, told the story of what happened to them after a recent concert.
“I’ve made video after video after video and deleted it because I don’t want any video of me as angry, triggered, crying upset as I am anywhere,” she wrote. “I don’t care how sexual you deem my music, my performances, my fun with my friends dancing at clubs, or ME . . . That does not give any of you the right to cross a boundary like sticking your hands up my skirt & pulling my underwear to TOUCH MY GENITALS as I am being escorted through a crowd after performing. This s**t made me sick to my stomach. As a victim of sexual assault, I am endlessly triggered and mindblown.”
Kehlani has spoken about sexual assault extensively in the past, sharing their own experience with rape on a 2019 episode of her “Sunday Gems” podcast. “There is nothing I can say that is new, that I feel like is providing a real take, that I feel isn’t gonna take away from the conversation,” she said at the time, per Complex. “I don’t want to add more hurt, I don’t want to add more pain. All I want to say is, ‘Sending love to everybody who’s on a healing path right now, and sending love to everybody who needs it. And if you’re apologizing for abuse, you’re disgusting, suck my d*ck.’ You know what I’m saying?”
The musician also shared words of support for victims of sexual assault in a 2017 interview with Billboard. “We are women, we are life, we are the life source,” they said. “That can be scary for people and it can result in terrible things, but don’t forget you who came from and what you are. Don’t forget your power, don’t let any trauma take away your power. That’s easier said than done, but you got this.”
If you or a loved one are experiencing sexual assault, know that help is out there. To speak with someone trained to assist survivors of sexual violence, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673.