Southern Soul singer Sky Whatley already had social media in an uproar after a video showed him allegedly slapping a woman from the stage.
Now, newly surfaced footage revealing more of the chaotic scene is making the disturbing encounter go viral all over again.
Whatley was performing at the Legendary Awards Show at the Londzell Performing Arts Theatre in the Atlanta suburb of Tucker when Shamika Boyd approached the stage.
Boyd said she attended the event to support her daughter, Jada Boyd, who was performing a DJ set.
The original video appears to show Whatley reaching down from the stage and striking Boyd across the head. The alleged blow reportedly left her with two black eyes.
“When he hit me, I was devastated because I’m thinking, ‘Why? Why did he hit me?’ He had no reason to hit me,” Boyd told 11Alive.
Boyd said she had been enjoying the performance when Whatley extended his hand toward her. She believed he might be offering a high-five or inviting her onto the stage. Instead, she said, he hit her.
“I did nothing to him. He was in no harm, no threat or anything,” Boyd said. “Then, to add insult to injury, after he flipped me off, he was like, ‘F— you, b—. This is for the real men.’”
A second video posted by The NC Beat provided more context surrounding the moments before the alleged assault. The footage initially showed Boyd dancing and moving her body against the front wall of the stage while Whatley performed “Waffle House at 2 AM.”
During “Auntie Love,” Boyd appeared to become more physically animated. She placed one leg on the stage while the other remained below and began bumping and grinding her body against the stage while filming Whatley. A person who appeared to be associated with the performer or venue waved a towel at Boyd, told her to get down and tried to move her, but she remained near the stage.
The video later returned to the moment Whatley allegedly struck Boyd.
He appeared to continue singing, insult her, and then ask for the music to be restarted.
The additional footage showed that Boyd had repeatedly interacted with the stage, but many viewers said it still did not justify Whatley allegedly hitting her.
When the Instagram page Cutting to the Chase shared the original video, the comments section quickly erupted.
DJ Kid Capri wrote, “If that was any woman in my family, my whole army would be looking for him right now!! Fact on facts! Law suit should be on the way.” Tameka “Tiny” Harris was even more direct, writing, “Cancel this [Ninga Emoji].”
Other Instagram users were stunned that people inside the venue did not immediately intervene.
“I don’t understand why everybody still sitting down like nothing didn’t happen,” one person wrote. Another demanded, “Where the men at though!! Ya’ll just stood there and watched this.”
Questions also mounted over whether police were called to the venue.
“That’s assault.. why weren’t the cops called?” one Instagram user asked. Another person wrote, “He would have been taken off stage in cuffs.”
Jada said she did not realize her mother had been hit until after the incident.
“I wouldn’t let anybody’s mom go through something like that, especially when they’re just supporting their kid,” she said.
Boyd has since retained the Render Law Firm and filed a police report. Her attorneys announced plans to pursue the matter in civil court and said an open criminal investigation is also underway.
“We will exhaust all legal measures to hold the appropriate parties accountable,” the firm stated. “No one should attend an event as a patron and be assaulted in the way that my client was, especially when they are there to support their child.”
The attorneys also asked anyone possessing additional footage from the event to contact the firm.
Boyd, a dental assistant who studied dental assisting and dental radiology at Excel Dental Assistant School, later addressed the controversy on Facebook. It appears to be her first post since July.
“Thanks to all that have supported me…just know that I’m ok….I’m a strong woman,” she wrote.
Despite what happened, Boyd discouraged people from attacking Whatley online.
“It hurts my heart to see all the bashing the hate we supposed to lift each other up,” she wrote. “It was not ok what happened….at all.”
Whatley identifies himself as an Atlanta singer, songwriter and producer whose sound evolved from “hood rock” to soul. His biography names Prince, Sly Stone and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler among his influences. It also notes his previous contributions to Goodie Mob.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Render Law Firm and Sky Whatley for comment. Neither responded before publication.