David Adjaye Relinquishes Roles After Reported Accusations of Misconduct
David Adjaye, the acclaimed Ghanaian British architect who designed the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, D.C., stepped back from a number of roles Tuesday after The Financial Times reported that three former employees had accused him of sexual harassment and misconduct.
Mr. Adjaye resigned as an architectural adviser to the mayor of London, and his work on a British Holocaust memorial was suspended after The Financial Times reported that three women, who were not named, had “accused him and his firm of different forms of exploitation — from alleged sexual assault and sexual harassment by him to a toxic work culture — that have gone unchecked for years.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Adjaye denied the accusations. “I absolutely reject any claims of sexual misconduct, abuse or criminal wrongdoing,” he said in the statement, which was released by Kendal Advisory, a communications and crisis management firm. “These allegations are untrue, distressing for me and my family and run counter to everything I stand for.”
Mr. Adjaye added that he was “ashamed to say that I entered into relationships which though entirely consensual, blurred the boundaries between my professional and personal lives.” He was “deeply sorry” for that, he said, and “will be immediately seeking professional help in order to learn from these mistakes to ensure that they never happen again.”
Source: The New York Times
