
Akon's wife Amirah Iman-Thiam sues Publix
Amirah Iman-Thiam, one of the wives of music artist Akon, has filed a lawsuit against Publix Super Market, alleging she was sexually assaulted by an employee at a store in Roswell, Georgia, in 2022.
According to court documents, the incident occurred while she was shopping, when a store clerk, identified as Jonathan Ross, allegedly followed her through the aisles and groped her from behind at checkout. Body camera footage from the aftermath reportedly shows Amirah in visible distress. Ross was arrested at the scene and later pleaded guilty to sexual battery, according to official records.
Amirah claims the incident caused lasting emotional trauma, forcing her to cancel a planned 12-city European tour and several collaborations with Grammy-winning producers. She estimates her financial losses at nearly $300,000 and now travels only with private security. She also reports relying on therapy and spiritual healing practices in Senegal to cope with the aftermath.
While Publix has denied liability, stating that Ross acted independently, Amirah's legal team argues the company failed in its duty to protect customers. Attorneys claim the supermarket chain has a broader issue, citing 19 prior complaints involving male employees at different locations. They accuse Publix of fostering an unsafe environment and prioritizing profits over customer well-being.
'This isn't about one man. It's a dangerous pattern,' said Amirah's attorney. Records cited in the lawsuit reportedly show Publix has quietly allocated $4.2 million to settle similar incidents since Ross's conviction.
As the case heads to court in 2025, Amirah says her goal is to hold corporations accountable and advocate for safer public spaces for women, emphasizing that her legal action is not just personal but part of a larger fight against systemic negligence.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Express Tribune
13 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Ukraine, Russia escalate war with major drone strikes ahead of peace talks
Listen to article On the eve of peace talks, Ukraine and Russia sharply ramped up the war with one of the biggest drone battles of their conflict, a Russian highway bridge blown up over a passenger train and an ambitious attack on nuclear-capable bombers deep in Siberia. After days of uncertainty over whether or not Ukraine would even attend, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Defence Minister Rustem Umerov would sit down with Russian officials at the second round of direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. The first round of the talks more than a week ago yielded the biggest prisoner exchange of the war - but no sense of any consensus on how to halt the fighting. Amid talk of peace, though, there was much war. At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge in Russia's Bryansk region, neighbouring Ukraine, was blown up over a passenger train heading to Moscow with 388 people on board. No one has yet claimed responsibility. Ukraine attacked Russian nuclear-capable long-range bombers at a military base deep in Siberia on Sunday, a Ukrainian intelligence official said, the first such attack so far from the front lines more than 4,300 km (2,670 miles) away. The official said the operation involved hiding explosive-laden drones inside the roofs of wooden sheds and loading them onto trucks that were driven to the perimeter of the air bases. A total of 41 Russian warplanes were hit, the official said. Russia acknowledges air base attacks, says fires put out= Ukraine did not tell the Trump administration about the attack in advance, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing an unnamed Ukrainian official. Russia's Defence Ministry acknowledged on the Telegram messaging app that Ukraine had launched drone strikes against Russian military airfields across five regions on Sunday. It said the attacks repelled the assaults in all but two regions — Murmansk in the far north and Irkutsk in Siberia - where "the launch of FPV drones from an area in close proximity to airfields resulted in several aircraft catching fire". The fires were extinguished without casualties. Some individuals involved in the attacks had been detained, the ministry said. Russia launched 472 drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's air force said, the highest nightly total of the war so far. Russia had also launched seven missiles, the air force said. Russia said it had advanced deeper into the Sumy region of Ukraine, and open source pro-Ukrainian maps showed Russia took 450 square km of Ukrainian land in May, its fastest monthly advance in at least six months. US President Donald Trump has demanded Russia and Ukraine make peace and he has threatened to walk away if they do not - potentially pushing responsibility for supporting Ukraine onto the shoulders of European powers - which have far less cash and much smaller stocks of weapons than the United States. According to Trump envoy Keith Kellogg, the two sides will in Turkey present their respective documents outlining their ideas for peace terms, though it is clear that after three years of intense war, Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops. The United States says over 1.2 million people have been killed and injured in the war since 2022. Trump has called Putin "crazy" and berated Zelenskiy in public in the Oval Office, but the US president has also said that he thinks peace is achievable and that if Putin delays then he could impose tough sanctions on Russia. In June last year, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul will present to the Russian side a proposed roadmap for reaching a lasting peace settlement, according to a copy of the document seen by Reuters. According to the document, there will be no restrictions on Ukraine's military strength after a peace deal is struck, no international recognition of Russian sovereignty over parts of Ukraine taken by Moscow's forces, and reparations for Ukraine. The document also stated that the current location of the front line will be the starting point for negotiations about territory. Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, or about 113,100 square km, about the same size as the US state of Ohio.


Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business Recorder
Wild celebrations in Paris after PSG's Champions League win
PARIS: Thousands of Paris Saint-Germain supporters took to the streets of the French capital on Saturday to celebrate their club's victory in the Champions League final, but nearly 300 arrests were made after some clashes with police. The majority of fans celebrated peacefully, but Paris police said scuffles broke out near the city's Champs-Elysees avenue and PSG's Parc des Princes stadium, where 48,000 had watched the 5-0 win against Inter Milan in Munich on big screens. Most of the nearly 300 people detained were suspected of possessing fireworks and causing disorder, Paris police said. AFP journalists saw police use a water cannon to stop a crowd reaching the Arc de Triomphe. 'Troublemakers on the Champs-Elysees were looking to create incidents and repeatedly came into contact with police by throwing large fireworks and other objects,' police said in a statement. Outside Paris, police said a car careered into fans celebrating PSG's win in Grenoble in southeastern France, leaving four people injured, two of them seriously. All of those hurt were from the same family, police said. The driver handed himself in to the police and was placed under arrest. A source close to the investigation said it was believed the driver had not acted intentionally. In Paris, most fans showed their joy by singing and dancing in the streets, with cars sounding their horns, after their team won the biggest prize in European club football for the first time in their history. One 20-year-old PSG supporter, Clement, said: 'It's so good and so deserved! We have a song that talks about our struggles and it hasn't always been easy. Lionel Messi double as Miami hit five past Columbus 'But we got our faith back this year with a team without stars. They're 11 guys who play for each other.' French President Emmanuel Macron's office said he would host the victorious players on Sunday to congratulate them. In a separate message on X, Macron hailed a 'day of glory for PSG'. 'Bravo, we are all proud,' he wrote. 'Paris is the capital of Europe tonight.' Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed it as a 'historic' win. The PSG team will hold a victory parade on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday when tens of thousands of supporters are expected to gather to get a glimpse of their returning heroes.


Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
Akon's wife Amirah Iman-Thiam sues Publix
Amirah Iman-Thiam, one of the wives of music artist Akon, has filed a lawsuit against Publix Super Market, alleging she was sexually assaulted by an employee at a store in Roswell, Georgia, in 2022. According to court documents, the incident occurred while she was shopping, when a store clerk, identified as Jonathan Ross, allegedly followed her through the aisles and groped her from behind at checkout. Body camera footage from the aftermath reportedly shows Amirah in visible distress. Ross was arrested at the scene and later pleaded guilty to sexual battery, according to official records. Amirah claims the incident caused lasting emotional trauma, forcing her to cancel a planned 12-city European tour and several collaborations with Grammy-winning producers. She estimates her financial losses at nearly $300,000 and now travels only with private security. She also reports relying on therapy and spiritual healing practices in Senegal to cope with the aftermath. While Publix has denied liability, stating that Ross acted independently, Amirah's legal team argues the company failed in its duty to protect customers. Attorneys claim the supermarket chain has a broader issue, citing 19 prior complaints involving male employees at different locations. They accuse Publix of fostering an unsafe environment and prioritizing profits over customer well-being. 'This isn't about one man. It's a dangerous pattern,' said Amirah's attorney. Records cited in the lawsuit reportedly show Publix has quietly allocated $4.2 million to settle similar incidents since Ross's conviction. As the case heads to court in 2025, Amirah says her goal is to hold corporations accountable and advocate for safer public spaces for women, emphasizing that her legal action is not just personal but part of a larger fight against systemic negligence.