Court told rape allegations against musician one of the 'worst' examples of defamation country has seen

The formal proof hearing occurred at the High Court at Wellington. Photo / 123rf

A Wellington man who accused a hip-hop artist of being a paedophile and a rapist on Instagram has offered no defence to the accusations of defamation filed against him.

In October 2020 Joshua Cooper-Taepa accused Tafara Mutingwende of a range of sexual offences, Mutingwende's lawyer Joshua Pietras told the High Court at Wellington today.

"This is one of the worst examples of defamation and call-out culture we've ever seen in this country. I don't wish to overstate it, but it really is that bad, sir."

Documents the lawyer provided to the court said Cooper-Taepa's post alleged Mutingwende was responsible for the rape of over "40 young women", that he had threatened to "gang rape" Cooper-Taepa's girlfriend and that he was a "paedophile".

The document said "despite the extremely serious nature" of the allegations,
Mutingwende was not suing Cooper-Taepa for general or punitive damages, but was seeking a declaration for the purpose of "public vindication".

"Mr Mutingwende is primarily concerned with having his reputation and mana restored so that he can move on with his life without ongoing scrutiny from right-thinking members of the public.

"As a result of the publications made by Mr Cooper-Taepa (and others), Mr Mutingwende
has lost employment opportunities, suffered extreme threats of violence and intimidation, faced social isolation and been shunned by members of the public," the submission noted.

Tafara Mutingwende filed the proceedings last year. Photo / File

Pietras said the Instagram live stream was published to many people, and seen by more than 200 people.

However, he alleged the claims had been published far wider and said Mutingwende was identified in the content and was tagged.

Justice Francis Cooke said he would issue his judgment in writing later.

The hip-hop artist also filed proceedings against another Instagram user, however she is defending the suit.

In October 2020 police launched Operation Emerald, investigating alleged offending by a group in Wellington, including some musicians, and shared on social media.

As a result another man, who has name suppression, was charged with indecently assaulting and raping several women over multiple years.

At the time police had warned people not to share unverified information on social media and said "people who have absolutely nothing to do with the allegations" were publicly accused of being the offenders.

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