Angelina Jolie’s friendship with British rapper and activist Akala has become a talking point this week, after the two were photographed leaving a hotel in Venice, Italy.
The two were pictured speaking candidly on Wednesday as they made their exit from the hotel while in town for the ongoing Venice International Film Festival.
While the images heightened already existing rumors that Jolie, 49, and Akala, 40, are in a romantic relationship, on Thursday, People magazine cited a source as saying they are just friends and “not dating.”
“She is friends with him and his partner, Chanelle [Newman], who was also there,” the publication reported, citing the unnamed source.
Angelina Jolie in Venice, Italy, on August 29, and Akala in Leeds, England, on November 4, 2015. Jolie’s friendship with the British rapper and activist has become a talking point after the two were photographed together in Italy.
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images;/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
People also reported, citing a second source, that Jolie, who was previously married to Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, and Akala had bonded as friends over their shared passion for “social and humanitarian causes.”
“They did several collabs over the years that focus on global issues like human rights,” the source added. “Angie speaks very highly of him.”
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Jolie and Akala for comment via email.
Who Is Akala?
Akala, whose given name is Kingslee James McLean Daley, was born in the English town of Crawley to a Scottish mother and Jamaican father. He grew up with his mother in Kentish Town, north London.
The rapper embarked on a music career in the early 2000s, adapting his stage name from the Buddhist deity Acala, whose name means “the Immovable.” In 2006, he released his debut studio album, It’s Not a Rumour. That year, he was named Best Hip Hop Act at the Music of Black Origin Awards.
Akala went on to release a host of albums, EPs and mixtapes, solidifying himself as a force in the British hip-hop scene.
He was not the first star in his family, however, as his older sister is the award-winning rapper Ms. Dynamite, whose birth name is Niomi Arleen McLean-Daley. In 2003, she performed her hit track “Dy-Na-Mi-Tee” on Saturday Night Live, in an episode hosted by Queen Latifah. Hip-Hop veteran Nas appeared on a Swizz Beatz–produced remix of the track.
While Akala’s music led him to fame, he has become better known for his political activism. He has spoken out on social and humanitarian issues and racial discrimination. His 2018 book, Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, is part biography and part examination of race and class.
A supporter of former Labour politician Jeremy Corbyn, Akala has offered alternative solutions to tackling knife crime in the U.K., insisting that tougher sentences and more police officers are inadequate to combat the issue. He has, instead, blamed the problem on poverty and a lack of education, particularly when children are excluded from school.
Akala founded the Hip-hop Shakespeare Company in 2009. The music theater production company combines the works of William Shakespeare with those of hip-hop artists. His partner, Chanelle Newman, is a co-founder and executive producer of the company.
The star has given lectures at numerous educational institutions. In recognition of his educational work, Akala received honorary doctorates from Oxford Brookes University and the University of Brighton in 2018.
Jolie is reported to have come into Akala’s orbit when the two met at Jamaica’s Calabash Literary Festival in May 2023. Jolie attended the festival with her daughters Zahara, 19, and Shiloh, 18. Jolie and Akala are said to have struck up a friendship over their shared interests in activism, travel and culture.
Besides Zahara and Shiloh, Jolie is mother to Maddox, 23; Pax, 20; and 16-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
