XXXTentacion, a.k.a Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy poses for his mugshot. December 15, 2017.
Photo by Miami Dade County Corrections via Getty Images
The Miami New Times has shared a new profile of XXXTentacion, containing interviews with the Florida rapper as well as Geneva Ayala, the woman accusing him of domestic abuse. XXXTentacion (real name Jahseh Onfroy) is currently on house arrest awaiting charges of aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness tampering. He has denied the abuse allegations against him.
Ayala first revealed her alleged abuse in January 2017 at a public defender's office in Miami (Pitchfork obtained the 142 page document in September and published a summary of its contents). Ayala claimed in her testimony that after she began living with Onfroy in May 2016, he subjected her to routine physical and psychological abuse, including after she told him she was pregnant. Speaking with the Miami New Times, she added further details: "His favorite thing was to just backhand my mouth," she alleged. "That always left welts inside my lips."
Onfroy was arrested and charged soon after Ayala escaped from his residence on October 8, 2016 (in December 2017, he was charged with eight additional witness tampering felonies). Onfroy's legal issues coincided with – or arguably helped bolster – the success of his certified-platinum single "Look At Me!," which peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. XXXTentacion's growing fanbase allegedly began to target Ayala: she claims his fans found her as she worked at a Dunkin Donuts and "began showing up every day, harassing her, taking photos of her, and trying to follow her home." The alleged harassment extended to social media as well, with users targeting and reporting every one of Ayala's Instagram posts as fake, and hacking her Twitter account.
The alleged harassment, Ayala claims, contributing to her signing a document from Onfroy's legal team in November 2017 stating that she would not testify against him in court. "He always invited all his fans to go to every court appearance," she said. "When I walk out of the courtroom and onto the street, what are people going to do?"
After nerve and eye injuries allegedly inflicted by Onfroy resulted in a $20,000 medical bill, Ayala set up a GoFundMe to crowdsource donations. However, she claims fans kept reporting her fundraiser to site moderators as fraudulent, and "within a week," the monies were frozen. After The Miami New Times reached out, GoFundMe reinstated the fundraiser after 18 months.
In his interview, Onfroy discussed why he does not believe in feminism. "Women may see or feel that they're belittled," he said, "but you're only belittled if you want to be belittled. Take, for instance, Hillary Clinton. She ran [for president] and she wasn't killed for it. That says everything." He also dismissed the #MeToo movement, claiming that "women are almost more powerful than men" thanks to claims of abuse that "can go off hearsay."
Onfroy also revealed that he did not donate $100,000 to a domestic abuse charity, a contribution he promised last October. Instead, he claims he contributed an undetermined amount to "several children's causes."
XXXTentacion was briefly removed from Spotify's curated playlists after the streaming platform introduced its "Hateful Conduct & Hateful Content" policy. Those new guidelines were partially rescinded after backlash which included Top Dawg Entertainment and Kendrick Lamar, who threatened to pull their music if XXXTentacion's wasn't reinstated to the playlists.
The FADER has reached out to XXXTentacion's representatives for comment.