Published
Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 11:00
- Earlier this month, Teklife parted ways with the Chicago artist following one woman's allegations.
Content warning: This story contains descriptions of domestic abuse.
Chicago artist DJ Taye, real name Dante Sanders, has been accused of physical and verbal abuse by two women who have spoken to Resident Advisor.
On May 26th, Chicago-based writer and DJ Ari Franco made a public statement detailing several incidents. "Last summer I left this apartment abruptly because of abuse I had endured with who I know as Dante or 'Taye,'" she wrote. "Not only did my friends see, but my co-workers, at the time, saw me when my lip was busted, which was the last straw. Prior to this, I was already trying to leave this situation multiple times because my friends were concerned for my safety, having to see my arms bruised in different places all the time."
Franco said she and Sanders first met in April 2018 but didn't connect until March 2021. She said they spoke on Instagram after she had liked a photo of him on Teklife's account. "Immediately after, he started to follow me," she told RA. "I get really weirded out by people I don't know. I've always been very cautious."
According to Franco, Sanders then messaged her, recalling that they had met before and that she was also an artist. She decided to follow him back. She said the friendship quickly became intimate.
In October 2021, Franco said she was DJing at the now-closed Ace Hotel in Chicago when a fight ensued. "It was really, really bad," she recounted. "[Taye] was just always not in a good mood." Franco said Sanders got upset because she was talking to another man (whom, she clarified, is gay and has hung out with the couple before) and he began to scream at her.
"I was extremely embarrassed and scared because it was wild," she said. "I've never been screamed at like that, especially in a public setting. There were a lot of people."
Franco said she then ran outside to cry in private before Sanders followed her. "He's freaking out because I'm crying and he's telling me to calm down [and] stop crying," she said. "I don't know what he thought I was going to say, but as I'm about to say something, that's when he started to choke me. Everything happened so fast."
Franco remembers a passer-by asking her if she was okay. She also called her sister, who was at the same event, and immediately told her what had happened. "Taye still had the audacity to try to force my sister to take him home, [but] she was like, 'you physically assaulted my sister.' He went on this huge tangent of saying that she's racist." (RA has seen messages between Franco and her sister, as well as Franco and Sanders following the incident.)
Franco said she never reported any of the events to the police, as she feared the repercussions that Sanders might face as a Black man. But one night, neighbours did call the police in the middle of a dispute. Franco said she and Sanders hid in the backyard until they left.
Franco's friend, who asked to remain anonymous, provided insight into the relationship. "It seemed to be going well up until the incident at her Halloween night [gig]," they told RA. They recalled the morning of March 28th, 2022, when they received a call from Franco at around 4 AM.
"This was the second time Ari had mentioned some sort of physical abuse she had suffered from her relationship with Taye," they explained. "I answered the call to her distraught (crying) about an altercation she had had with Taye and [her asking] if I could come pick her up from their apartment. [I was] shocked to see her in the state that she was in physically. She had bruises all over her arms and a scrape on her lip."
Following Franco's public post on June 5th, Chicago label Teklife responded with a now-deleted statement on Instagram. Here's a screenshot.
When asked why the post was removed, a spokesperson for Teklife told RA: "I removed the post because I wanted to make a statement, but I didn't want it to be a stain on DJ Taye's CV. DJ Taye has been a key member of the team and is a good musician. However, after years, it is inevitable that people want to take a different path. Nothing should ever be permanent. We were asked to take sides, and in reality, we were put in an impossible situation. We felt like we needed to break it off. We still wish him the best."
RA reached out to DJ Taye for comment. He denies the allegations of physical abuse. His representative issued the following statement.
"Ms. Franco approached Taye in March 2021, when they began a casual relationship. Taye doesn't accept allegations of physical abuse and believes claims have been taken out of context. He accepts this relationship wasn't a healthy one and is very sorry for difficulties both parties were experiencing at the time, mainly due to Covid-19, over-drinking and being isolated during lockdowns. He sincerely hopes this person gets the help they need, as he has done, and tries to move forward to heal from what was a toxic situation on both sides."
Another woman, who said she knew Sanders before his relationship with Franco, spoke to RA about her experience with the artist. (She asked to remain anonymous.) Read her statement in full.
"We were dating for some months at first and then eventually lived together. Our dating phase was lighthearted but in retrospect, I can identify early red flags. Living together quickly became tumultuous and toxic. I experienced verbal and physical abuse. People always wonder why women and other marginalised genders don't immediately leave situations like this, but it's important to remember that there was a very human element to our relationship, and relationships like this can be very confusing. Yes, I was abused in this relationship. Yes, we had good times together as well. Both can simultaneously be true. It was also a very scary time collectively and I was extremely isolated from friends and family. I felt trapped, and I would say a 'vortex' is best word to describe how I experienced the relationship."
She added that she had reached out to peers, mutual acquaintances and local promoters about the situation, but they "didn't know what to do or chose not to take action with the information I had given them." She believes Franco had no other choice but to disclose the details of their relationship publicly.
"I was grateful that she was able to take the time and energy to share her story so publicly for the sake of others who she wanted to protect from future harm," she added. "I thought about doing the same for years after ending the relationship, but it's a heavy burden to carry that I never quite found the strength to do myself. I was relieved that it felt like people were finally hearing me through her." DJ Taye and his representatives declined to comment on the relationship.
According to a 2019 survey by the US Department of Justice, one in four women experience sexual and physical violence by an intimate partner. Only 52 percent of domestic violence survivors report to the police. RESPOND, a domestic violence agency based in Massachusetts, says it takes a survivor an average of seven attempts to leave their abuser.
Read Franco's Instagram post in full.
If you're experiencing domestic abuse of any kind, or know of someone who is, please consider these resources below.
• US National Domestic Violence Hotline
• City of Chicago Office on Domestic Violence
• Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (UK)
Update, November 6th: This article has been updated with the original source for the domestic violence statistics.
