TikTok star Chef Way (aka Waymond Wesley) has resigned from his day job as a prosecutor with the Harris County (Texas) District Attorney’s office after disparaging comments he made about Black women on Twitter several years ago came to light.
The move was announced Tuesday in a statement from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
In a Twitter post, Wesley wrote a lengthy statement about his departure and rehabilitation that included an apology to Black women.
“Although the leadership at the DA’s office and I believed a path forward was possible at the outset of this situation, it has grown clear that my presence is becoming a distraction,” Wesley said.
“But once I saw
that my presence at the DA’s Office was becoming larger than the office itself and the ability of Black women, in particular, to feel protected, I knew the only correct course of action was to resign and allow the healing process to begin.”When Wesley’s comments surfaced, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg defended Wesley’s employment at the office, saying in a statement: “His recovery is ongoing. I am a believer in second chances, and Mr. Wesley has conducted himself professionally since joining our staff.”
In addition to announcing his resignation, Wesley outlined his issues with alcoholism and said he jumped on the bandwagon of other Twitter users who targeted Black women to grow their social following.
“On Twitter from 2015-2016, there was a sick trend that targeted and trolled Black women to gain attention and followers,” Wesley said.
“Unfortunately, I joined this trend. Alcoholism destroyed me mentally, spiritually, and physically. I do not hate Black women. I have never hated Black women.”
Wesley objectionable tweets from 2015-2016 spewed hate predominantly toward dark-skinned Black women. In one 2015 tweet, Wesley compared a Black woman to a trash landfill and said, “I see no difference.”
In another tweet, Wesley posted a picture of a dark-skinned Black woman and said, “she’s too Black.”
“I regret that Black women, who already face dehumanization and discrimination from other racial groups,
were the brunt of this inflammatory discourse, led in large parts by Black men online,” Wesley said in his Tuesday statement. “These tweets were not a drunk mind speaking sober thoughts.”In the Instagram post, Wesley also denounced a tweet he said was fabricated and attributed to him. That tweet refers to Black women as a punching bag.
“The author of the tweet, Latry Howard, has since reached out to me and personally apologized. I do not condone violence against anyone, especially Black women.”
However, an alarming tweet Wesley didn’t address in his apology was his remarks about former Prairie View alumna Sandra Bland who died in 2015 in Waller County police custody.
A few
weeks after her mysterious death, Wesley tweeted, “If black lives mattered to Sandra Bland, she wouldn’t have taken her own life. I’m serious too,” according to Twitter screenshots posted by @tayshusmama. Eight years later, many questions surround Bland’s death because of a previous violent interaction with Waller County authorities. The county eventually ruled her death a suicide.Nonetheless, in his apology, Wesley pointed to his severe alcohol addiction as the root cause of his erratic behavior.
“In total, I spent around 19 months in inpatient and residential facilities to treat my alcoholism,” he said. “Alcoholism is a disease. It nearly killed me. I am not the man I was in 2015.”