Sexual allegations wreak havoc within Zulu organization

16th July 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer

A lawsuit filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court accuses Naaman Stewart, newly elected king of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, of sexual harassment in a June 2015 incident at Zulu’s North Broad Street club.

The plaintiff, Gemell Hulbert, stated in the lawsuit that Stewart, the former president of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, and Zulu affiliates tried to “threaten, induce, and persuade her not to reveal Stewart’s actions to authorities or to take further action against him.”

The amount of damages sought is not specified in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Hulbert began working at Zulu’s club on North Broad St. in May 2014. Hulbert alleged that, while closing the club for the night in June 2015, Stewart followed her into the bathroom where he repeatedly propositioned her as reported the incident to multiple Zulu staff members, only to be fired after reporting Stewart’s behavior.

The New Orleans Advocate published a recording of the alleged incident (https://soundcloud.com/theadvocatebr/audio-of-alleged-sexual-assault-committed-by-newly-elected-king-zulu-naaman-stewart-in-2015). In the recording, a man keeps telling a woman to “show it to me” and “let me see them” despite her repeated objections. The woman in the recording addresses the man as Naaman. The man threatens to lock the woman in the bathroom.

Lena Hinton, Hulbert’s attorney, emphasized that the recording that was leaked to the media does not paint the full picture of what happened to her client.

“We have no doubt that once the evidence is presented in this case that the court will find Ms. Hulbert is absolutely telling the truth and Mr. Stewart is culpable for his actions,” said Hinton. “It is difficult to believe that the Zulu organization, composed of upstanding members of the party and community, would endorse this type of behavior by allowing Mr. Stewart to become King Zulu 2019.”

In a press conference on Monday, July 9, Zulu’s new president-elect Elroy James addressed the allegations. He said all that Zulu has learned of the allegations so far has been through the media.

“We have not been formally served with any legal action. Once we’ve been officially served with a legal action and our attorneys have had opportunities to review the legal documents, we will have a more formal statement,” James said at the press conference. “However, we can affirmatively say that we do not condone any inappropriate behavior…by any member of this organization…The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club does not take this lightly. This unfortunate incident will be investigated by our organization and will be handled appropriately.”

James added that he had not yet spoken to Stewart about the allegations and that he had no additional statement on Stewart’s reign as king of Zulu in 2019 or of any possible plans to replace him.

Hinton hopes that Zulu will take action to replace Stewart as king.

“To the men of Zulu and the community at large, I ask you: imagine if the same scenario happened to your sister, daughter, mother, wife or friend. How would you feel and what would be your response? It is completely unacceptable and morally deplorable for a man to enter a women’s restroom facility and demand anything, much less sexual favors or touch. This behavior has to be brought to light and stopped at all costs,” Hinton said.

Danatus King, attorney for Stewart and Zulu, did not return The Louisiana Weekly’s requests for comment as of press time.

This article originally published in the July 16, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.