Canadian musician K’naan charged with 2010 sexual assault in Quebec City

QUEBEC – Canadian rapper K’naan, known for the global hit “Wavin’ Flag,” has been charged for an alleged sexual assault in Quebec City dating back more than 14 years.
A charge sheet filed at the courthouse in Quebec City says the award-winning musician, whose given name is Keinan Abdi Warsame, is charged with one count of sexual assault from July 2010.
The court document alleges the assault took place between July 16 and July 17, 2010, dates that coincide with the musician’s appearance at Quebec City’s popular Festival d’été de Québec.
The case was before the court on Thursday, but the 46-year-old accused, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., was not present.
Attempts by The Canadian Press to reach representatives for the artist on Thursday were unsuccessful. A defence lawyer who represented Warsame in court did not return messages seeking comment.
According to the court clerk, a preliminary inquiry will be held in April 2025.
The victim, whose identity is protected, was 29 at the time of the alleged assault.
Born in Somalia, K’naan moved with his family to the U.S. when he was 13 and lived in New York and then Toronto, where he spent his teenage years.
News of the criminal charge came two days after he received the cultural impact award Tuesday at Canada’s SOCAN Awards for the global resonance of the 2009 hit “Wavin’ Flag.”
In 2010, he and a group of other famous Canadian singers remade the song to benefit victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti that year. Another version of the song was used as the theme for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The four-time Juno Award winner stepped away from music in 2012 for other projects, and this month he made his directorial debut with the film “Mother Mother,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
He released a track last year called “Refugee,” earning a Special Merit Award from the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
— By Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal