The article detailed Kweli’s controversial conduct online and alleged harassment of then-24-year-old student and activist Maya Moody.

In the article, the rapper was accused of repeatedly tweeting at Moody, sometimes for more than 12 hours straight, for a two-week period, all while several Black women took part in a campaign to report Kweli for targeted harassment. The rapper was later suspended from Twitter weeks later.

 

The article also explored how social media platforms handle harassment against Black women, noting that platforms need to do more to protect their Black female users.

Now, Kweli is suing Jezebel’s parent company G/O Media and Ashley Reese, who authored the piece. Kweli filed the suit pro se, meaning on his own behalf, and is arguing that the original article resulted in a “negligent infliction of emotional distress,” that caused him to go “into a depression state of loss of appetite, sleeplessness, edgy, anxiety, and discomfort around certain women.”

He also alleges that the publication used him as a “guinea pig to clarify how black men treat black women.”

In the lawsuit, Kweli alleges that Jezebel wrongfully described him as “some monster that didn’t like black women, when 500k plus of his fans are black women, his ex-wife and child’s mother are black women, and his employees are black women.” He also referenced “Brown Skin Lady,” a song off his 1998 album with Mos Def, as evidentiary support, citing his lyrics in the song as proof he loves Black women.

“My brown lady creates environments for happy brown babies/ I know it sounds crazy, but your skin’s the inspiration for cocoa butter/ You provoke a brother/ We should get to know one another/ I discover when I bring you through, my people say “True!”/ All I can say is all praise due, I thank you God for a beauty like you. … This goes to the brown skin ladies,” he raps in the 1998 song.

The rapper is asking for half of his salary, $300,000, in damages.