DJ Akademiks, media personality and host of the “Off The Record” podcast, has been accused of rape in a lawsuit filed in New Jersey Superior Court.
In the filing, Fauziya “Ziya” Abashe alleges that she was assaulted by Akademiks, whose real name is Livingston Allen, and two John Does in two separate incidents at Akademiks’ New Jersey home in 2022, according to documents obtained by Rolling Stone.
Abashe, a writer who dated Akademiks in 2021 before splitting later that year, claims she was invited to Akademik’s home in July 2022, where she was drugged, assaulted and raped by two men on his pool deck, Rolling Stone reported. The next morning, Abashe claims, Akademiks allegedly “brutally” raped her.
In the suit, Abashe claims that Akademiks “showed her surveillance footage of the two men raping her, and she included text messages from Akademiks afterward saying that she should ‘get tested’ and he would too,” according to Vulture.
Akademiks allegedly admitted to having sex with Abashe during a wire call, Abashe claimed in the lawsuit per Vulture. Abashe said she originally reported her alleged assault to the police before deciding not to press charges, the outlet reported. She chose to file the lawsuit after Akademiks brought up the alleged incident in a video posted to his YouTube channel on December 23, 2023.
In the video, Akademiks refers to Abashe “getting trained by my two mens on the pool deck,” leading Abashe to sue him for defamation. Abashe claims she tried to resolve the case privately several times without success, according to Abashe’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn.
“Litigation is always the last resort,” Blackburn said in a statement to USA Today. “After several unsuccessful attempts to resolve this case privately, Ms Abashe was left with no choice but to file. Mr. Allen’s hubris will be his downfall.”
While Akademiks’ management did not respond to requests for comment, he did take to social media to share his response to the filing. The DJ defended himself against the claims during a live stream on his Rumble channel on Monday, according to Vibe.
“I can’t talk about too much because I’ve paid lawyers to handle sh*t in court,” he said. “These people who are coming at me are hoping that I f**k that up by handling it on social media. The police wants nothing to do with this. They’re saying there is no crime.”
“Let me tell you this about everyone in the industry: if Ak ever goes down, y’all going down with me,” he added. “‘Cause I hold no secrets for nobody.”