Actor Malik Yoba stormed off the set during an on-camera interview with The Root Friday.
According to The Root, Yoba became demonstrably upset when asked about how he reacts to criticisms that he does not actually care for trans people.
The Root said Yoba walked away from his chair, threw his microphone to the floor, yelled “f–k you” to a reporter and the production team and demanded to take the SD cards that recorded the interview, which The Root’s producers refused to do.
"It's a set up. I don't like this. We said we were going to talk about policies. I don't appreciate this at all. This is not what we f*cking discussed. We sat for four f*cking hours. We sat for four f**king hours," he yelled.
"F**k you! This is my f**king life," Yoba said before storming off.
Yoba said he was motivated to publish the post after seeing a video of a man who was bullied for dating a transgender woman.
"When I saw the kid in the video, I thought of myself at that age," Yoba said. "I was someone who was also curious about what's going on with transgender people, women specifically. I thought I would I post a video and make a comment around why is it OK for us to record a video bullying each other? Why is it OK to disregard each other because of our choices?"
Yoba then addresses allegations of soliciting sex from a minor.
"I don't know the woman," Yoba said. "I have no idea who she is. I'm familiar with that pain. I'm familiar with that trauma. I'm familiar with people who are crying out for help. I'm familiar with the lack of regard for this population."
Yoba said the allegations are heinous and it's the reason why he does the work he does.
"The very thing that motivates me to help people out of is something that someone tried to accuse me of," Yoba said.
As Blavity previously reported, Mariah Lopez Ebony made the allegations in a Facebook post, saying the actor solicited sex from her when she was 13 and 16 years old.
Lopez urged people to stop applauding Yoba for revealing he supports trans people.
"Because of deeper issues he has or, because of ‘society’ pushing him and others to deep, dark places, his admission to being sexually attracted to Trans women, is bound to open a Pandora’s box for him; not because the women are Trans, but because many of the Trans women he engaged in sexual exploration and exploitation with on 14th Street, Times Square and elsewhere, were minors. Including myself," Lopez wrote.
Lopez said Yoba would drive around New York’s Greenwich Village area looking for trans women to pay for sex.
"I started seeing him personally, with my own two eyes, cruising around the meatpacking district and Village, large black Jeep, looking for Trans fem sex workers, he preferred black trans girls; pretty, slim girls, but would pick up a Latinx if she was put together and/or looked mixed," Lopez wrote.
The alleged incident happened 20 years ago, but Lopez said she remembers the details vividly.
"You remember every detail, blood pounding," Lopez said. "He was cute and polite, don’t get me wrong. But I’m sure he knew what he was doing was wrong."
In a statement to The Root, Yoba's representative said the actor “categorically denies all allegations and will not respond, beyond this comment, to requests for comment.”