Donald Glover Accused of ‘Taking Advantage’ of Album Model

A model has accused Donald Glover of “taking advantage” of her, after she appeared on the cover of his 2016 album, Awaken My Love.

In a now-deleted Instagram Story post shared by Pop Crave on X, formerly Twitter, Kenyan model Giannina Antonette Oteto said she received low pay for her work on the shoot, but that Glover—whose stage name is Childish Gambino—claimed she would receive residuals from record sales. Newsweek could not verify the veracity of the tweet’s contents.

The make-up artist and stylist who brought the artwork to life were also allegedly promised residual payments, but according to Oteto, the trio “never received anything.”

No actual evidence has come to light as yet that Glover did in fact make the claim about residual payments and there is no sign of any wrongdoing.

Newsweek has reached out to Glover for comment via email.

“Myself, the make-up artist and stylist (all Black women) were taken advantage of and lied to,” she wrote.

“The only person that received residuals was a white woman who created the headpiece even though she was not set to work on this (she also deserves it).”

The cover shows Oteto wearing a beaded headdress created by designer Laura Wass of WXYZ Jewelry.

“After years of lies and silence and then finding out the statute of limitations complications[…]it’s been an exhausting, emotional, and overall sad thing to have to deal with,” Oteto continued.

“It took so much from me, especially the fact that we all worked on it with so much love and being proud to represent Black artists.”

With almost two decades in showbiz, Glover has made a name for himself as a rapper, actor, writer, comedian, director and producer.

Released in December 2016, Awaken My Love was the 40-year-old’s third album. The record debuted at No. 1 on the R&B albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

Moving away from rap and premiering a funk-inspired sound, Awaken My Love sold 72,000 units in its first week and was certified Platinum in September 2018 after surpassing 1 million copies.

During an appearance on talk show The Shop in 2022, Glover said the album was a “petty” response to someone who claimed he “can’t make a hit.”

“It makes you stronger,” he said. “But I also know it’s dark, it’s not something that you should—it’s not something that should be all of that.”

In her post, Oteto explained she has mixed emotions about the record’s success.

“This album has been so hard for me to celebrate for many reasons,” she said. “For years, I resented it even. It put me through a lot.”

She claims that her legal representation has contacted Glover’s team on several occasions, but has yet to receive a response.

Newsweek has reached out to Oteto for comment via Instagram.

Fans were disappointed with Glover following Oteto’s claims, with @keisssss_ writing: “This is so upsetting!!!”

“Donald Glover f****** over Black women, what’s new?” said Michael.

“Donald Glover has a long documented history of hating Black Women. I hope she gets her dues,” said Katurah.

“Her story needs to be amplified,” said Cindy Noir. “He needs to be held accountable. As iconic as this album cover was, she deserves compensation.”

Allegations Surrounding Treatment of Black Women

This isn’t the first time that Glover’s purported treatment of Black women has been questioned.

In March, an interview with Glover and Swarm actorDominique Fishback went viral. The psychological thriller was co-created by Glover and writer Janine Nabers, and focuses on an obsessive fan with a murderous fixation for her favorite singer.

Speaking to Vulture, Glover explained he was reluctant to go into the backstory of Fishback’s character Dre, with the 32-year-old actor struggling to relate to the character as a result.

“I kept telling her, ‘you’re not regular people. You don’t have to find the humanity in your character. That’s the audience’s job,'” he said. “Think of it more like an animal and less like a person.”

Glover continued: “It reminds me of how I have a fear of dogs because I’m like, ‘you’re not looking at me in the eye, I don’t know what you’re capable of.'”

The seeming comparison of Black women to dogs and other animals did not go down well online, with one social media user posting “Dude just hates Black women.”

“[He] keeps showing that, yet people don’t want to believe and accept that,” said another.

During the final season of comedy-drama Atlanta in 2022, which Glover created and starred, journalist Shamira Ibrahim said the Golden Globe winner did not know “what to do with Black women.”

In an article for Buzzfeed, Ibrahim criticized Glover’s depiction of Atlanta’s Black female characters, calling their portrayals “superficial, slipshod, and rife with stereotypes.”

The Grammy winner has also been accused of “fetishizing” non-Black women with his lyrics, particularly Asian women.

His 2011 song “Camp” features the line “forget these white girls, I need some variation, especially if she very Asian.” His track “Bonfire” features the lyrics “Finding you is like finding Asians I hate, but they say I got a fetish,” and that “Black or white girls always come with a set of politics.”

After the release of his single “This is America in 2018,” Black psychologist and social media influencer Umar Johnson said Glover was “diluting his own message” by including a white woman in the music video.

Directed by frequent collaborator Hiro Murai, the viral video explored complex topics such as gun violence, racism and entertainment as a distraction from political and cultural strife.

“Yes, he has a right to discuss the Black experience but wanting to have that experience with a white woman clearly says he doesn’t value it enough,” Johnson wrote on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.

In response to Johnson’s comments, Glover interviewed himself for a feature in Interview magazine.

“Are you afraid of Black women?” he asked himself.

“Why are you asking me that?” he replied.

“I feel like your relationship to them has played a big part in your narrative,” the star continued, before firing back: “I feel like you’re using Black women to question my Blackness.”

Social media users criticized the interview, accusing Glover of failing to address the issue.