Afrika Bambaataa's Sexual Assault Accuser Walks Back Claims: '[He] Is Not A Pedophile'

Afrika Bambaataa is “not a pedophile” according to Ronald Savage, the man who originally accused the Hip Hop pioneer of sexually abusing him when he was 15.

Speaking to AllHipHop, Savage made a surprise U-turn on his allegations against the Zulu Nation founder.

While acknowledging that they engaged in a sexual relationship when he was underage and Bambaataa was much older, Savage said he’s partly to blame because he never actually told the “Planet Rock” hitmaker that he was just 15 at the time.

“In 2016 and beyond, I had totally forgot that when I was younger, when I was 15, I had a fake ID that said that I was 18 to get into the clubs,” Savage said.

“I guess with him seeing me in the clubs, what are you obviously going to think? ‘He’s of age, he’s in here with us.’ I guess I’m partly to blame, too, because I never told him I was 15.”

He added: “During the trauma and everything, I had totally forgot about that. The only thing that I wanted to know was: why me? I said that in 2016 and I guess I got that answer.”

Savage also said he came forward with his story eight years ago because his relationship with Bambaataa has “damaged” him and he “needed to get it off [his] chest.”

However, he insisted: “Nobody forced me to do anything; I did it willingly.”

Savage also admitted that he “hated myself for even doing that” but continued to defend Bambaataa by saying: “Bambaataa is not a pedophile and, in my eyes, he was doing something that was consensual with someone that he thought was of age.”

In another surprising turn of events, Ronald Savage and Afrika Bambaataa recently reunited in person at an event celebrating the life of Zulu Nation leader Queen Amber following her passing.

Describing their encounter, Savage said: “I have prayed to God that this be over and I have always wanted closure. And I felt talking to that man would give me the much-needed closure that I wanted […] It felt like God wanted me to be there at that time.”

He went on to reveal that he and Bambaataa embraced each other and had a private conversation, during which they “forgave each other.”

“I told him I was sorry because I felt and still feel if I told him that I was 15, I honestly believe in my heart that none of this would’ve happened,” he said. “I told him I loved him; he said he loved me, so there was no hatred there.”

Savage refused to disclose whether Bambaataa apologized to him, though.

Bambaataa previously denied being sexually inappropriate with Savage in an interview with FOX 5 New York, saying: “I never touched that brother.”

Savage is not the only person to have accused Bambaataa of sex crimes. In a 2021 lawsuit, an unidentified man claimed the Hip Hop icon sex trafficked him between 1991 and 1995 when he was between 12 and 16 years old.

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The man, identified only as John Doe, alleged that Bambaataa repeatedly “sexually abused and sex trafficked” him at the Bronx River Houses public housing project, where they both lived.

The suit claimed that Bambaataa “eventually began to inappropriately touch [Doe] in his private areas while [Doe] was in [Bambaataa’s apartment].”

It went on to describe how “[Bambaataa] eventually encouraged [Doe] to watch pornographic videos while in [Bambaataa]’s apartment,” which “progressed to mutual masturbation… and sodomy.”

The man claimed that he became a victim of sex trafficking as “[Bambaataa] would transport [Doe] to other locations and offer [him] for sex to other adult men. During said encounters [Bambaataa] would watch as [Doe] was sodomized by other adult men.”