Akon Axed by Verizon Over Simulated Rape

Posted May 4th 2007 3:44PM by TMZ Staff

Rapper Akon has been fired by Verizon -- and is being threatened with prosecution -- after he reportedly simulated a rape of a 15-year-old on stage during a concert in Trinidad a few weeks ago.

Verizon promoted Akon as one of the musicians on its mobile-phone music service, and said it would no longer sponsor the Gwen Stefani tour in which Akon, who recently performed on "American Idol," is the opening act.

The rapper invited 15-year-old Danah Alleyne onto the stage, and the girl obliged, thinking that she was entering a dance contest to win a "trip to Africa," as Akon promised. But when Alleyne "won" the contest, the "trip to Africa" turned out to be an on-stage encounter with Akon during which her "head was hitting the floor, said Alleyne to the Trinidad Express (via FOX News).

In its account of the incident, the Trinidad Express said that the "Smack That" rapper was "turning, twisting and even flipping [the girl's] body," while "mimicking sexual positions" and sandwiching the girl with the assistance of another performer. The Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said, in FOX News' report, that Akon should be prosecuted.

This isn't the first time Akon has done some sketchy work on stage. TMZ obtained exclusive footage of Tara Reid getting the Akon treatment during a party at the Sundance Film Festival.

A rep for Verizon told TMZ they were sponsoring Akon and made a decision this week to end the relationship for, as they called it, "reasons." Beyond that, the rep would not elaborate.

Filed under: Music

Comments [179]

Digg it Del.icio.us My Yahoo Sphere RSS MySpace Permalink Email

Reader Comments

(Page 3 of 12)Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

31. Thanks Michelle Malkin and Laura Ingraham for going after Verizon this week and all your audience who canceled their Verizon accounts. Money talks.

Posted at 5:50PM on May 4th 2007 by Else

32. First of all we can debate about this all day. There is both a right and a wrong. It is wrong for her to be there in there first place.Obviously the father which we call the minister isnt keeping up with his daughter cause everyone is making comments about it and the first comment he made was well my daughter dances and is good, she has won many competions.So with that being said what kind of dances do you think she was competing for gospel? No!! So now since everyone say oh that is bad he is now like akon is a bad man and this and that. Do any of your 15 year old daughters got tattoos or has a shirt in the closet like that not to mention there are pics and video of her on top of him riding him on stage.Again have you seen any of your 15 yr olds doing that so how was he to know how old she is.Then if you do know anything about dancing in trinidad Africa or anywhere over seas like that it is highly aggresive.Compare reggae videos and concerts to hip hop or rock for that matter totally different so before anyone say anything negative think is my 15 yr old looking like this?

Posted at 5:50PM on May 4th 2007 by Shonny

33. Where's the great Rev Al & Sharpton on this ????

Come on ... let's here the condemnation ... or does it only apply to old white men and not black rappers?

Posted at 5:50PM on May 4th 2007 by Alert

34. I don't think you guys are getting the full story here. Not that i agree with Akon simulating sex with women on stage(something he does in EVERY one of his shows), but that little girl lied to her parents about going to that club and said she was going out for ice cream. Then she snuck into an 18 and over club with her friends which is why Akon thought she was at least 18 years old. If you google this story, you can find pictures of her writhing around on TOP of Akon sexually during the competition and bending over in front of him while grinding provocatively-all of which while laughing and smiling. TMZ's story makes it seem like she was forced and like Akon KNEW she was underage. This little girl was hot in the pants and lied about her age. You can look down on Akon for dancing that way, but it's not illegal.

Posted at 5:51PM on May 4th 2007 by A-yo Leroy!

35. Hello Al And Jesse these are actions not words..where are your high moral standards now.....oh she has beautiful hair..so she doesn't deserve grovelling and people losing thir jobs over it!!!! Actions HURT Words don't!!!!

Posted at 5:51PM on May 4th 2007 by Vivid

36. what an arse../.fame can only last all but 15 minutes for the wrong person...he needs to go back to the rat hole he was released from..obviously the law made a mistake letting him out

Posted at 5:54PM on May 4th 2007 by Miapocca

37. I hope disgraceful, ugly pigs like this are not who the youth of today are following. Band together and let the world know that we will not be degraded by people like this. We are better than that and deserve better.

Posted at 5:54PM on May 4th 2007 by mary

38. I'm not going to defend what this guy did, but where were the parents? Did they not know where their child was going? I don't know who this guy is and even I have seen that clip on tv of Tara Reid. Note to this guy though: ID everyone before you start the show in case their parents don't care where they are. I didn't read through all the comments, but if this girl is in fact a minister's daughter, then they REALLY don't have anything to complain about... I would think a minister would be the first person to stop their kids (and everyone else's kids for that matter) from going to that show... Unbelievable.

Posted at 5:54PM on May 4th 2007 by Valerie

39. Akon's 15 year old ... http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/?p=5355

Posted at 5:56PM on May 4th 2007 by R

40. Let's not forget he lied to these girls telling them they would win a trip. that is false advertisement and now he really could be sued for it.

Posted at 5:57PM on May 4th 2007 by Catalina

41. don't put the blame on rappers for taking advantage of girls DUMB enough to put themselves in those situations in the first place. that little girl akon was dancing with knew exactly what she was getting into because that way of dancing is very common at caribbean concerts. Reggae artists pull girls up on stage and do that sort of thing all the time.

Posted at 5:57PM on May 4th 2007 by A-yo Leroy!

42. #24 The reason Verizon dropped them is becuause of comments like the one posted.Why did Imus get fired because enough people said it was wrong and action had to be taken thats why they dropped him. Just Like Akon Imus had made several racial comments in the past but how many have we really heard of 1 and well since everyone went off about it and as stated money talks enough people said something and he was gone.So if you read the comments they say Akon does it at all his shows so how long you think it will take before he either gets banned from doing shows or not allowed to have anyone on his stage at all.

Posted at 5:59PM on May 4th 2007 by Shonny

43. very good verizon! more sponsors should follow with other entertainers. and finally we will have decent entertainers performing.

Posted at 5:59PM on May 4th 2007 by baby love

44. Did he know how old she was before he brought her on-stage? I wouldn't think that he generally IDs people before bringing them on stage. Are parents aware of what hiphop concerts are like before they decide to let there kids go? Even the Timberlake concert had lots of sexual references and swearing. As an adult, I like that concerts have adult content, but it isn't always the place for kids... just like bars, casinos, etc.

Posted at 6:00PM on May 4th 2007 by TT

45. A-yo-Leroy and Shonny are rapists.

Posted at 6:00PM on May 4th 2007 by teena

Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments