Slowthai has pleaded not guilty plea to two charges of rape, stemming from an alleged incident in September 2021.
The 28-year-old artist entered his plea in a British court on Thursday (June 15).
Born Tyron Frampton, the hip-hop artist was charged last month with the oral and vaginal penetration of a woman without her consent.
Frampton’s co-defendant, Alex Blake-Walker, pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and two sexual assaults, the BBC reports.
Both men are accused of raping the same woman, but Blake-Walker is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman.
Both men were released by Oxford Crown Court, and have been placed on conditional bail until their trial begins in July 2024.
During that earlier court appearance, where he appeared before Oxfordshire, England, magistrates court via video link, The Guardian noted, Frampton did not enter a plea and only confirmed his real name, date of birth and Northampton address.
Prosecuting lawyer Adam Yar Khan said at the time that the rape charge must be heard at crown court, due to it being an indictable-only offense.
Slowthai made his break into the music mainstream with his Mercury Prize-nominated 2019 album, Nothing About Great Britain, which hit the U.K. top 10. The following year, he collected the “hero of the year” at the 2020 NME Awards, though the talking point from the evening was his behavior towards host Katherine Ryan, which erupted into a fracas with members of the audience. He later admitted in an apologetic tweet that his actions were “shameful”.
Slowthai’s popularity soared. His sophomore album, 2021’s Tyron, topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart, and, in the same year, he earned a Grammy Award nomination for dance recording. Earlier in 2023, his Ugly LP peaked at No. 2.
When the allegations were made public, the rapper was quietly scrubbed from the lineup for the U.K. summer festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and Australia’s mid-winter event, Splendour In The Grass, and he withdrew from a July 8 concert at Wembley Stadium with Blur.
NEWS
Live from London, it is Saturday Night Live.
The legendary sketch comedy institution officially launched its UK edition on March 21 with Saturday Night Live UK, featuring former SNL cast member Tina Fey as host and British indie rock group Wet Leg as the episode’s musical guest.
This global expansion of Lorne Michaels’ famous NBC program began with Fey’s opening monologue, which included unexpected cameos from Michael Cera and UK television personality Graham Norton.
“It’s an absolute honour and kind of historic,” Fey told the crowd. “Guys, I am the youngest person to ever host SNL UK!”
During the broadcast, Wet Leg delivered performances of two songs taken from their second album Moisturizer, which opened at Number 6 on Billboard’s Top Rock and Alternative Albums chart and also climbed to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in the United Kingdom.
The band first appeared performing the record’s fourth single “Mangetout,” a Grammy nominated song that also earned a place on Billboard’s list of the 20 best UK and Ireland songs of 2025. Later in the show they returned to play the album’s lead single “Catch These Fists.”
After their appearance on SNL UK, Wet Leg will travel back to the United States for a series of major festival dates including Coachella, Governors Ball, Bonnaroo and Outside Lands. Their US tour is scheduled to begin April 15 at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.
Upcoming episodes of SNL UK have also been confirmed. Wolf Alice will serve as musical guest on the March 28 episode hosted by Jamie Dornan, while Kasabian will perform on the April 2 show with Riz Ahmed as host.
The show is broadcast on Sky in the United Kingdom and is available to stream on Peacock in the United States. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first episode attracted more than 220,000 viewers on Sky. It was released in the US on March 22 via Peacock.
You can watch Wet Leg’s SNL UK performances below.
