Sky Whatley Charged With Simple Battery Over Onstage Slap

Southern soul singer Sky Whatley has been charged with simple battery over a slap caught on video at a Georgia concert, the woman's attorneys say, and the arrest warrant that came with the charge has not been served.

The charge stems from the Legendary Awards Show & Concert on Sept. 6 at the Londzell Performing Arts Theatre in Tucker, Georgia, where Shamika Boyd says Whatley reached down from the stage and hit her in the face. Her attorneys told 11Alive a warrant was issued for Whatley the week of Sept. 28 and police had not arrested him as of Oct. 2.

Boyd says the blow left her with two black eyes and popped the composite material off one of her teeth. She was at the show to support her daughter, DJ Jada Boyd, who was working a set that night.

"When he hit me, I was devastated because I'm thinking, 'Why did he hit me? He had no reason to hit me,'" Boyd said in September.

She reported the incident to police after the show. Nothing happened in the case until the week the warrant came down, almost a month later.

What Boyd Told DeKalb County Police

According to a DeKalb County police report, Boyd told officers that Whatley called her to the stage and acted as though he was going to give her a high five. She said he then reached back and slapped her.

She told police the slap left both of her eyes black and chipped a tooth that had recently received a composite fixture, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Boyd says the contact was not the end of it. She says Whatley flipped her off and cursed at her afterward.

"After he flipped me off, he was like, 'Eff you B, this is for the real men,'" Boyd said.

Her Attorney Says an Active Warrant Should Mean an Arrest

Attorney Shannin Render of the Render Law Firm, who represents Boyd, criticized the pace of the police response to a confrontation that was recorded and widely shared.

"They're just not doing their job," Render said. "I've done this for about 10 years now, and when there's an active warrant, you get picked up. Especially with something of such notoriety. Unfortunately, Ms. Boyd let me know that they're deciding not to go forward and they're going to let him turn himself in."

Simple battery is a misdemeanor charge in Georgia. A charge is an accusation, not a conviction, and Whatley has not entered a plea or appeared in court in any reporting on the case.

A Second Video Showed What Happened Before the Slap

The first clip hit the internet on Sept. 10, when The NC Beat published it alongside a Facebook post Boyd wrote and later deleted. It circulated for days, then spread much further when a longer piece of footage surfaced and Boyd gave an on-camera interview.

That second clip picks up earlier in the set. It shows Boyd dancing near the front of the stage while Whatley performs "Waffle House at 2AM." During "Auntie Love," she puts one leg up on the stage and keeps dancing while recording him on her phone.

Someone who appears to be affiliated with the venue or the performer waves a towel at her, tells her to get down and tries to move her back. She stays. Moments later, he reaches down and hits her.

Boyd's deleted Facebook post described trouble starting before any of that. She wrote that Whatley was rude before he ever took the stage, that the two exchanged words, and that he made a vulgar comment about her daughter, after which she no longer wanted Jada spinning his set. None of that exchange appears in the footage that has been made public.

The video that is public does not establish what happened immediately before or after the portion captured on camera.

Boyd Was Removed From the Venue. The Show Kept Going.

Boyd's attorneys say she was removed from the theater after the altercation while Whatley was allowed to continue performing. They say they are examining the venue's response as part of their case, including whether other parties could be held responsible.

"When you're a patron of a venue, you assume certain risks, but being slapped isn't one of them," Render said.

Atiya Vereen, another attorney with the firm, pushed back on any suggestion the contact was accidental. "For you to bend down and slap her, that's not an accident," Vereen said.

The Londzell Performing Arts Theatre did not respond to a request for a statement from Rough Draft Atlanta.

Her Daughter Found Out Afterward

Jada Boyd was part of the concert lineup that night with a DJ set. She says she was not performing when her mother was hit, did not witness it and only learned about it later.

"There is nothing that he could say to justify what he did," Jada Boyd said. "It was very wrong and it was sickening to actually see that happening."

She also said her mother has been most affected by the embarrassment. "I know she doesn't like talking about it and she's ready to put it past her as well," Jada said.

Who Sky Whatley Is

Whatley is a Georgia-based independent singer, songwriter and producer working in Southern Soul and blues. His catalog includes "Auntie Love," "Waffle House at 2AM" and "Just Won't Break (The Strong Woman's Anthem)."

He has named Prince, Sly Stone and Steven Tyler as influences, contributed to Goodie Mob projects, and worked with Big Gipp, Cupid and Tonio Armani. He performed at Atlanta's One Musicfest in 2025.

The Sept. 6 bill he was on was a crowded one. The announced lineup for the Legendary Awards Show & Concert also included Big Gipp of Goodie Mob, Raheem the Dream, MC Shy D and Kilo Ali.

Some third-party concert listings had Whatley on the bill for the City of Riverdale's Southern Soul Showdown on Sept. 19. The city's official listing for that event named Mr. Mister, Shantavia Nichole, Japvonn and Stacii Adams. Whether his absence from that lineup had anything to do with the video has not been established.

The Crowd Became Part of the Story

The clip spread fastest after the Instagram page Cutting to the Chase shared it. Much of the reaction focused less on the singer than on the room full of people who did not move.

"I don't understand why everybody still sitting down like nothing didn't happen," one commenter wrote. Another: "Where the men at though!! Y'all just stood there and watched this." A third wrote, "Nobody stopped the show that's wild! Real men?! None were there? Dawg would've gotten pulled off stage."

Boyd has asked supporters to keep their anger off the singer while police look into the case, saying she does not want the response turning into online abuse.

The Civil Case Her Lawyers Are Building

Boyd is looking into pursuing legal action against Whatley and seeking compensation for medical treatment and potential loss of income, Render said. The firm has also said there is a pending criminal investigation and that Boyd will not be making further public comments.

"It's not appropriate for you to enter a venue for you to be assaulted and then have to carry the burden of your medical expenses, transportation fees, and the recovery process of not being able to work or things of that nature," Render said. "So, that's where we come in to establish who was accountable and hold them accountable."

As of the reporting in late September, no lawsuit had been filed. A police report and a civil suit run on separate tracks, and the criminal side moved first.

Whatley Has Not Said Anything

Nearly a month of coverage has produced no public response from the singer. Boyd and her attorney say they have not been able to reach him.

Channel 2 Action News said it contacted Whatley through social media and the email address listed on his Linktree page asking for his response to the allegation, and got no reply. 11Alive reported the same result after trying his social accounts.

His Instagram account is private and his Facebook account appears to have been deactivated.

What stands now: a misdemeanor charge, an unserved warrant, a police report describing two black eyes and a chipped tooth, and a law firm preparing a civil claim against the singer and possibly the venue. The slap itself is on video. Almost everything around it is still contested.