Talib Kweli announced several weeks ago that he was stepping away from Twitter to focus on his Patreon. But a recent report suggests the move wasn't by choice.
A spokesperson for the social media site told Jezebel that Kweli had been suspended following "repeated violations." The confirmation came weeks after the Brooklyn rapper was accused of launching a harassment campaign against a woman named Maya A. Moody.
"[Talib Kweli’s] account has been permanently suspended after repeated violations of the Twitter rules," the spokesperson told Jezebel. "Twitter's purpose is to serve the public conversation. Violence, harassment and other similar types of behavior discourage people from expressing themselves, and ultimately diminish the value of global public conversation. Our rules are to ensure all people can participate in the public conversation freely and safely."
The exchange between Kweli and Moody began almost a month ago, after another Twitter user posted a list of rappers, including Kweli, who are married to Black women. Moody responded to the list with the following tweet: "Literally almost all of them are married to lightskinned women but that’s a conversation for another day."
Kweli replied shortly after.
"Nah let’s have this convo today," he tweeted. "Are we talking all of my relationships? My children’s mother as well? Or are you only talking about who you think I’m currently in a relationship right now? I mean, is any of this really any of your business?"
That was only the beginning. In the following weeks, Kweli constantly tweeted at Moody, insisting he wouldn't stop until she apologized or deleted her Twitter. He also targeted her on Instagram, prompting his fans to bombard Moody with threatening tweets—not only against her, but also her family.
"...Talib Kweli has been on a week-long harassment spree directed at me via Twitter and Instagram, which has led to his followers threatening to murder my family and I for [my] tweet," she wrote in a statement. "I have also been threatened with human trafficking, and [his followers] have been posting pictures of my parents online, who are ALL federal employees, along with their full names, where we live, and my stepmother's old job and salary. [...] a paid employee of Kweli... provides [him] with the usernames of those he wants targeted and harassed ... I am not the first or only victim of this behavior from Talib Kweli. He has harassed whoever has come to my aid, and his bots have attempted to leak IP addresses, stalk and harass other people's families."
Kweli sent an email to Jezebel, in which he denied harassing Moody: "Maya Moody is a liar. I’ve never cyber harassed anyone in my life," he wrote. "I responded, on Twitter, to the lies that Maya posted about me. When you respond to someone who posts lies about you, that is not harassment."
