Fani Willis, YSL Mondo & Donovan Thomas: Affair Claims Called ‘Derogatory & False’

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis says accusations she had an affair with a gang member are “derogatory and false,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The accusations, shared by former President Trump in a campaign speech and ad, in which he did not provide evidence for them, may stem from comments made in a January 2023 Rolling Stone article by YSL Mondo, who helped found the Young Stoner Life music crew with Young Thug, according to the magazine. YSL Mondo says Willis had worked as his defense attorney in the past, according to the magazine. Willis is prosecuting Young Thug and other defendants in a high-profile racketeering case. Willis is widely expected to indict Trump and other Republicans.

The separate Young Thug case involves the murder of Donovan “Big Nut” Thomas, “a senior ranking Inglewood Blood gang member,” according to Atlanta Magazine.

The name Donovan Thomas has also been tied to Willis in unproven accusations on Reddit and TikTok and by podcaster DJ Akademiks in a Twitch stream. Akademiks, who has expressed support for Trump, did not provide evidence for the accusations.

According to MSNBC, podcaster DJ Akademiks “has spent months baselessly alleging that Willis had a romantic relationship with a central figure in Young Thug’s trial.” Thomas was shot and killed outside a barber shop in 2015, according to WSB-TV. The indictment accuses Young Thug of renting a car used in the murder of Thomas, a rival gang member.

Some sites believe that Trump was referring to Thomas, not YSL Mondo, but he did not provide a name in comments he made on the campaign trail. However, in a campaign ad that makes the accusations, the Rolling Stone article with YSL Mondo is cited.

According to Politifact, the Trump television ad criticizing Willis “distorts comments in a Rolling Stone article that did not show an affair.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2023, YSL Mondo said the Fani Willis “he sees on TV isn’t the same woman who served as his defense attorney in 2019 during an aggravated assault case,” the magazine reported. However, nowhere in the story does it allege that Willis and YSL Mondo had an affair.

Fact Check.org reports that there is “no evidence” that Willis had an affair with the gang member.

Here’s what you need to know:

YSL Mondo Told Rolling Stone He Had ‘Auntie-to-Nephew & Mother-to-Son’ Talks With Fani Willis

In the Rolling Stone article, YSL Mondo said: “This is not her character, this is not who she is. I done had auntie-to-nephew, mother-to-son type of talks with her. I know this not her character. This is what made me start looking at [the YSL case] like I know it’s bigger than just her. It’s politics behind this shit. It’s other people that’s behind her pulling strings.”

According to Rolling Stone, YSL Mondo posted and deleted an Instagram video showing a clip from court in which Willis “pats him on the shoulder while he hugs his child” as they stood before the judge. She was working as his defense attorney.

“It really wasn’t nothing that I was trying to keep a secret ’cause the video is on my page,” he told Rolling Stone. “That video right there went viral. I was shooting that out there because I know it’s going to end up coming up.”

He told Rolling Stone he posted the video so people would not think “weird s***” about his interactions with Willis. He said they had a “cool relationship.”

“She was like, ‘Don’t mess my name up now. You know I’m about to get ready to run for this head DA. You fuck around and do something else, I’m going to sock it to your a**,’” he told Rolling Stone, adding that he was surprised when she indicted the rappers.

Willis told Rolling Stone: “All conversations with him are attorney/client protected, and past confirming I represented him would be inappropriate,” Willis wrote. “Oh, I think I can say I liked him. I hope he is well.”

According to WSB-TV, YSL Mondo is accused of “strangling” a woman, and authorities recovered drugs, cash and guns in an investigation of him. He is not charged in the Willis racketeering case.

Former President Trump Said Fani Willis Has ‘a Lot of Problems’

GettyFani Willis

According to MSNBC, Trump said,

I probably have another one [indictment] — they say there’s a young woman, a young racist, in Atlanta. She’s a racist. And they say, I guess, they say that she was after a certain gang and she ended up having an affair with the head of the gang, or a gang member. And this is the person that wants to indict me. She’s got a lot of problems.

The campaign ad posted on Trump’s YouTube page also says Willis was “caught hiding a relationship with a gang member she was prosecuting,” and cites the Rolling Stone article during that segment, while only quoting that article as saying she was a lawyer for the man. As noted, she did not prosecute YSL Mondo; she defended him.

The ad, which is called the Fraud Squad, also makes accusations against DA Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Special Counsel Jack Smith.

READ NEXT: Prosecutor Jack Smith’s Background.