Southern Soul singer Sky Whatley is accused of striking a woman in the face from the stage during a concert outside Atlanta, and the woman says the blow left her with two black eyes and a case headed for civil court.
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It happened on Sunday, September 6 at the Legendary Awards Show & Concert at the Londzell Performing Arts Theatre in Tucker, Georgia. Shamika Boyd was there to support her daughter, DJ Jada Boyd, who was working the event. Boyd was near the front of the stage during the performance when the singer reached his hand down toward her. She says she thought he was going for a high five or pulling her up on stage.
“When he hit me, I was devastated because I’m thinking, ‘Why? Why did he hit me?’” Boyd told Atlanta station 11Alive. “He had no reason to hit me. I did nothing to him. He was in no harm, no threat.”
Boyd says what came after was worse. According to her, Sky Whatley flipped her off and said, “[Expletive] you, [expletive]. This is for the real men,” then called for the music to be restarted and finished his set. Video from the show appears to capture the blow, which people in the room say could be heard over the music.
Her daughter did not know until afterward. “I wouldn’t let anybody’s mom go through something like that, especially when they’re just supporting their kid,” Jada told the station.
The video first reached the internet on September 10, when The NC Beat published the clip along with a Facebook post Boyd wrote and later deleted. It circulated for days, then blew up all over again last week when a second, longer piece of footage surfaced and Boyd sat down with 11Alive for an on camera interview.
That second clip is the reason the conversation shifted. It picks up earlier in the set and shows Boyd dancing near the front of the stage while Sky 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 a problem that started before any of that. She wrote that he 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, and it remains her account alone.
What is on video is the contact. What is not settled is everything that led to it.
Boyd has filed a police report and hired the Render Law Firm. Attorney Shannin Render, whose name appears as Shannon Render in some coverage, told 11Alive the family intends to take the matter to civil court and seek compensation for medical treatment, transportation, and the income Boyd lost while she recovered. “It’s not appropriate for you to enter a venue and then be assaulted and then have to carry the burden of your medical expenses,” Render said.
No lawsuit has been filed yet. No arrest has been made and no criminal charge against Sky Whatley has been confirmed. A police report and a civil suit are two separate tracks, and only one of them is in motion so far.
The singer himself has said nothing. Boyd and her attorney say they have not been able to reach him. 11Alive tried through social media and through an email address listed on his Linktree and got no response. His Instagram account is now private and his Facebook account appears to have been deactivated.
That silence is landing on an artist who had real momentum. He is a Georgia based independent singer, songwriter, and producer working in Southern Soul and blues, with songs like “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. Some third party listings had him on the bill for the City of Riverdale’s Southern Soul Showdown on September 19, though the city’s official lineup did not include him. Whether that has anything to do with the video has not been confirmed.
The reaction online has been loudest about the people in the room. Comment sections filled up with the same question about a crowd that stayed seated while a woman was hit in front of them, and about a man who said the moment was for the real men while none of them moved. Boyd has asked supporters to keep their anger off the singer’s neck while police look into it, saying she does not want the response turning into online abuse.
The next real development will be the lawsuit actually being filed, an update from police, or Sky Whatley finally speaking. Until one of those happens, a woman with two black eyes has a lawyer, and the man accused of putting them there has gone quiet.