With #MeToo still running its course, I’m beginning to think that sexual assault cases go through four stages. First with the incident of the sexual assault, the reporting on social media by victims as they re-process their trauma, the denial from the accused and investigation from the appropriate bodies, and a resolution which might not necessarily be a reckoning.

For EbonyLife TV, and the allegations of sexual assault made against Men’s Corner host Andre Blaze Henshaw by activist and writer Olutimehin Adegbeye, it looks like we are in the third stage as the media behemoth unceremoniously released a statement yesterday. The statement, already being widely circulated, inexplicably can’t be found on EbonyLife TV’s social media channels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m very concerned about these allegations and I am determined to find out the truth.” CEO EbonyLife TV Mo Abudu said in the statement. We have, in the past, seen statements like this in response to allegations of sexual misconduct, which makes this particular one from the EbonyLife TV boss packed with extra pressure, because Abudu runs one of the few female-owned media companies on the continent and her actions will go a long way in defining how cases of sexual assault will be treated. Not that a statement shouldn’t be made. Andre himself has denied the allegations on social media, releasing a Twitter-sized statement with the promise of something more formally defensively to follow.

I have written comprehensively on Andre Blaze Henshaw’s sexual assault allegation, and how Men’s Corner isn’t a catalyst for evolving, decolonised masculinity. The coming weeks will definitely be interesting, as we await the outcome of EbonyLife TV’s investigation