Who is Trevian Kutti, the Chicago-based publicist indicted in Georgia with former President Donald Trump?
According to her Instagram account, an “equal opportunity capitalist,” “solutionist” and “media manipulator.”
Kutti has represented Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and convicted R&B singer R. Kelly. The indictment says she traveled to Georgia in January 2021 to contact Fulton County County poll worker Ruby Freeman. The charges against Kutti include influencing witnesses and conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings.
The indictment says Harrison William Prescott Floyd, leader of Black Voices for Trump, recruited Kutti. In a statement to WBEZ about the charges, Kutti said she is “appalled at these accusations” and she is “simply being a crisis manager.”
“Working with Ye and Mr. Kelly truly made me understand the amount of false accusations that can be given to strong people such as Trump. I am no politician and have no interest in being one. I would like to quote Ye one of my favorite people I have worked with: ‘The media is trying to crucify me like I’m Christ.’ ”
On Tuesday morning Kutti addressed the indictment with an Instagram reel featuring her picture alongside photos of West and Kelly. A West song plays with the hashtags #next #to #the #best #to #EVER #do #it. Her Instagram account is pro-Trump and she recently posted a picture of the former president in blackface labeled “23 and Me.”
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Kutti’s account is full of posts defending Trump, such as this on August 10: “Everybody can see what’s happening to @realDonaldTrump You don’t have to like him. You might even hate him. However, you cannot deny the global, mass-concerted efforts to destroy him. Before Russiagate, J6 and Georgia, they made you hate this man. Now, ask yourselves why.”
Kutti’s LinkedIn names her as the director of TrevianWorldwide. It also says she was a celebrity stylist for actress Regina King from 2015-2017. In 2021, Reuters published a story that said she pressed poll worker Freeman to confess to bogus fraud charges.
Adam Rawnsley later wrote a piece on her for The Daily Beast. (You can also listen to the podcast episode here.)
“How did Kanye’s press person end up being involved in the 2020 election, pressuring some poor poll worker?” Rawnsley set out to find out, combing her social media and connections.
“Our takeaway was this was not as random as it seemed,” said Rawnsley, who now is a political reporter for Rolling Stone. “Ms. Kutti is a lot more plugged in conservative politics. She spent a lot of time rubbing elbows with senior folks in the Trump movement. This is someone who clearly had some connection to the campaign – not the actions of someone who’s essentially freelancing.”
Her loyalty to Trump rings loud. Last month Kutti posted: “I look forward to redeeming Black women in politics by becoming Press Secretary to the 47th President of the United States.” She tagged Trump.
Natalie Moore is an editor on WBEZ’s Race, Class and Communities desk. You can follow her on Twitter at @natalieymoore.
