Even if you don’t live in the New York area, you’re probably familiar Charlamagne Tha God and his wildly popular syndicated radio show, The Breakfast Club.
For millions of fans, Charlamagne (real name Lenard Larry McKelvey) is one of most trustworthy media figures in America today — but most of those devotees are likely unaware of the allegation that’s been haunting the 40-year-old for the entirety of his career.
Long before his rise to national fame, McKelvey was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl named Jessica Reid.
Charlamagne first spoke of the charges in a 2013 interview with Breakfast Club co-host DJ Akademiks.
“Whoever touched her, it wasn’t me,” he said at the time.
He hasn’t spoken publicly on the charges since, but this week, Reid told her side of the story for the first time in an interview with Hollywood Life.
“When Charlamagne did the interview with DJ Akademiks he said he was throwing a party for his cousin’s graduation (from college), but he told me it was his birthday party and that’s the only reason I went because I wasn’t going to go at first,” recalls Jessica.
She says she was raped by Charlamagne at a 2001 house party.
“He used to call me his little sister and he convinced me because it was his birthday and said, ‘You have to come.’ So the story about his cousin is bogus. That was a lie.
“Once we arrived, we went inside and there was nothing but guys everywhere,” Jessica says.
“Only two other females were there … I had an intuition that I should have left, but being only 15, I didn’t listen to my intuition.
But Reid says she was reassured by Charlamagne, who told her that she was under his protection.
“Nothing is going to happen to you tonight. I got your back. I’m going to take care of you tonight. You’re going to be fine,” Jessica recalls Charlamagne saying.
Reid says that both she and her 18-year-old friend Malika accepted soft drinks from Charlamagne.
When Malika began vomiting, Jessica retrieved napkins to help her clean up and immediately realized she had been drugged.
“I was dizzy and I didn’t feel like myself. I stood up to go to the bathroom to give myself a moment to feel better and when I got up I collapsed,” Reid says.
It was then, she claims, that Charlamaagne instructed the other male guests to carry her to a bedroom:
“Take her ass upstairs,” she recalls him saying.
“They did not penetrate me, but they violated me. When they were done they left me there. I was laying on the floor crying,” Reid says.
“I don’t know how long I was laying there for, but then Charlamagne came in the room. He opened the door, came in, then closed the door. He got on that bed and started taking my clothes off.
“Meanwhile, I’m still at a state where I can’t move and I can’t do anything.”
Reid claims that Charlamagne once again reassured her that he would protect her — before proceeding to sexually assault her.
“He took my clothes off and then he had sex with me, but that’s not all he did,” Reid says.
“He actually had oral sex with me, as well. And then he left the room and I’m just lying there in the room.”
Jessica and Malika were eventually able to make their way out of the party and were offered a ride home by a stranger while they were sitting on a nearby curb in shock.
The stranger contacted Jessica’s mother, who had already called 911 after others who were concerned about the party informed her her daughter might be in danger.
Seventeen years later, Reid says she’s still haunted by the incident.
Despite years of therapy, she remains deeply disturbed by the sight of her alleged attacker.
“Seeing him on TV all the time, I can’t get away from this guy,” she says.
Charlamagne has yet to respond to Reid’s latest comments.
