Somali-Canadian rapper K'naan has been charged with sexual assault in Quebec City, CBC reports.
The musician (real name Keinan Abdi Warsame), best known for his 2009 global hit "Waivin' Flag," has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in her 20s in a hotel room between the days of July 16 and July 17 in 2010, around the same time Warsame was performing at the Festival d'été de Québec.
A complaint was filed with Montreal police by the alleged victim in May 2022, then transferred to Quebec City police where the crime is said to have been committed.
This morning (September 26) the case was presented in court, however, Warsame was not in attendance for the proceedings. The case has now been set for some time in April 2025. According to Radio-Canada, Warsame's lawyer has requested he be tried in English in front of a jury.
Warsame was just celebrated this past Tuesday (September 24) at the 2024 SOCAN Awards, where he received the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award for his song “Wavin’ Flag.” The award acknowledges a work's "significant lasting cultural impact on society in Canada and/or beyond its borders."
Earlier this month, Warsame, who was raised in Toronto but now lives in New York City, premiered his directorial debut, Mother Mother, at the Toronto International Film Festival, which won the FIPRESCI Award for emerging filmmakers. The film was praised for how it
"conveys a sense of hope and healing after tragedy.”