Following the sexual assault allegations made against Afrika Bambaataa, his subsequent denial, and his eventual eviction from the Zulu Nation—the hip-hop awareness group he founded over 40 years ago—the organization is now apologizing to his alleged victims, according to the Daily News.
The group said in a statement, “We extend our deepest and most sincere apologies to the many people who have been hurt by the actions of Afrika Bambaataa and the subsequent poor response of our organization to allegations leveled against him.”
It was signed by nearly three dozen members of the Nation.
Though the organization originally defended Bambaataa, a group coordinator for the Tri-State area has said that the prior support was given by older members who were the hip-hop pioneer’s friends.
Ronald Savage, Bambaataa’s original accuser (as three more men would come forward later), has reportedly rejected the apology, saying, “They should have done this in the beginning instead of disrespecting me and the Daily News.”