advertisement
Legal News

K'naan Charged with Sexual Assault

The Somali-Canadian rapper, born Keinan Abdi Warsame, has been charged for an alleged assault in Quebec City in 2010 while he was there for Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ).

K'naan

K'naan

Facebook

Canadian musician K'naan has been charged with sexual assault.

A charge sheet was filed this morning (Sept. 26) in Quebec City for the musician and director, born Keinan Abdi Warsame, for a count of sexual assault dating back to 2010, The Canadian Press reports.


The arrest warrant alleges that the assault took place between July 16 and 17 in Quebec City, which coincides with a show he played at Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) in 2010. The musician was not present at court.

CBC reports that the complaint was first filed in May of 2022 with the Montreal police, but was later transferred to Quebec City. The assault allegedly took place in a hotel room on territory covered by the Quebec City police force.

advertisement

K'naan, who's known for his 2009 hit "Wavin' Flag" (later rerecorded as the global anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup), took an extended break after his 2012 album Troubadour but had recently returned to prominence.

The Somali-Canadian musician returned with "Refugee" in 2023, a song that he said was intended to feel "like a home for those of us made homeless by conflict." K'naan won the Best Song for Social Change Award by the Recording Academy at this year's Grammy Awards.

Just over two weeks ago, K'naan made his debut as a director, premiering his feature film Mother Motherat this year's Toronto International Film Festival. This week, on Sept. 24, K'naan attended the SOCAN Awards at History in Toronto and accepted the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award for the lasting global impact of his anthem, "Wavin' Flag."

Warsame was not in attendance for the proceedings in Quebec this morning. The case has been set for April 2025. According to Radio-Canada, Warsame's lawyer has requested he be tried in English in front of a jury.

advertisement
Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.
Courtesy Photo

Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.

FYI

Obituary: Mike Bilcox of Ajax, Ontario Pop-Punk Band Not By Choice

Former drummer and now head of Round One Sports & Entertainment Liam Killeen pens this tribute to his former bandmate, with words from The Feldman Agency's Jeff Craib, Sum 41's Dave Baksh, Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau and more.

Mike Bilcox, lead singer and guitarist of Ajax, Ontario’s second most famous pop-punk band, Not By Choice, passed away on June 21, at age 48.

Mike started Not By Choice with his Ajax High School friend Glenn ‘Chico’ Dunning back in 1997. They had initially played a few shows under different names that may or may not be suitable for print, but our moniker came from Mike bothering his younger sister Chrissy at the dinner table. When she couldn’t take any more of his taunting, she promptly told her Mom, Pat, that he was annoying her – Pat yelled ‘Well, he’s your brother!’ to which Chrissy quickly replied ‘Yeah, not by choice!’. With that, a real band was born.

keep readingShow less
advertisement