Charlamagne addressed an old podcast clip that a website used to accuse him of raping his now-wife Jessica Gadsden before they got married.
His explanation comes about two weeks after Jessica Reid spoke to The Blast and accused “The Breakfast Club” host of raping her in 2001 when she was 15 years old and he was 22.
Charlamagne said he made that comment on his podcast after he read an article that asked if “drunk sex was considered rape,” which sparked a conversation between he and his wife about the first time they slept together.
“Me and my wife hung out one Saturday night and she got sloppy drunk and passed out in my momma’s house and I got that p—y,” Charlamagne said in the old clip. “She was f–kg me back and all that, but she was really drunk. I asked her yesterday, ‘Yo, did I rape you the first time we ever had sex?’ And she goes, ‘I mean in hindsight, yeah.’”
Charlamagne said the website only used a portion of that recording and cut off the rest, so people missed the full point he tried to make.
“It’s edited … But she told me ‘I can see how people can say that, but that’s not what happened with us. It’s not like I said no,’” he explained on “The Breakfast Club.”
Then, in an attempt to clear the air even further, Charlamagne and his co-hosts called Gadsden so she could tell her side of things. Charlamagne also revealed that it was the first time he had her on the radio since 1999.
“Talk to the people, baby,” he told her after she answered the phone. “Did I rape you the first time we had sex with each other?”
“You need to learn how to tell stories,” she said back. “You shouldn’t have used the word “rape” first of all. The conversation we were having was about rape culture … So when you asked me that question I was hesitant to answer you because you used the word “rape” but that’s not what went down. We both know what happened, and I was not passed out. I was very coherent.”
Gadsen then said they also slept together the next morning and continued to blast her husband for not remembering those kinds of details.
After the phone call, Charlamagne said that his tone was all wrong when he made that comment on his podcast, and he never should’ve used the word “rape” so casually. He then advised his male listeners to avoid having sex when they’re drunk or high because it’s too much of a “grey area.”
“Just wait until both parties are sober,” the 40-year-old stated. “That’s a message that I think we need to give the high school kids, the college kids, even some grown men need that message.”
After Charlemagne’s response was posted to “The Breakfast Club’s” YouTube page, it sparked all kinds of comments — some supportive and others critical.
“But address this girl from almost 20 years ago,” one person wrote. “Don’t deflect.”
“So two consenting drunk adults can never make love?” another person asked. “What the heck is going on with this crazy world? So two adults can’t get a bottle of wine and have a nice night and drink and make love afterwards, because now our culture considers it rape? Even when both people are in love and consenting?”
“Wow. I thought he was innocent until now,” a third person wrote. “Every word of that skit was planned, typed, rehearsed and recited. The call, everything was fake. The lawyers are heavily involved in this.”
You can see Charlamagne and his wife’s full explanation below.
https://youtu.be/aMN5mBhkdNg
