Nollywood actor and filmmaker Kunle Afolayan has addressed the massive backlash he received over his shady statement to colleagues, including Funke Akindele.
Kunle Afolayan, during the premiere of his movie, stated that he is not interested in ₦1 billion or ₦2 billion in cinema earnings if he cannot get at least ₦10 million from them.
He also took a swipe at his colleagues for constantly dancing to promote their movies.
Hitting back at him, Funke made it known that she isn’t the one hindering his progress, as she admonished him not to let jealousy burn him, noting that the sky is so big for everybody to fly.
Not done, she had shared a video of herself dancing as she promoted her highest-grossing movie.
In an interview with Arise News, he claimed that Funke Akindele called him unexpectedly, telling him to stop mentioning her name in interviews.
He said she was angry, yelling, and then she dropped the phone.
He said the situation felt strange, given their long-standing personal relationship and all that they had grown together.
“Funke called me yesterday and she said ‘Mr. Afolayan, I know you don’t like me but don’t mention my name in your interviews’. She was yelling and she dropped.”
“She called, and she said, ‘I know you don’t like me, but don’t mention my name in your interviews,’ she was yelling, and she dropped the phone after that,”
“It was weird, and I’m like, where is this coming from. She’s like a sister to me. In Unilag, I would go to her hostel; her sister is also my friend, so I am not sure where this is coming from,” he said.
Afolayan stressed that his statement had been misinterpreted, explaining that he never criticised Akindele or any filmmaker for their method of promoting their movies.
“I never said anything was wrong with it. For me, it’s draining. I have absolutely nothing against it. I’m just saying what I will not do,”
He explained that his comments were made during a film business forum discussing cinema sustainability, profits, and economic sense of cinema releases.
“The honest truth is, it was a forum, it was a film business forum, and we had the cinema operators there, and the cinema operators were asking me, when are you coming back to cinema, and I said, I can’t come to cinema if you cannot guarantee that I will make substantial money,” he said.
He expressed disappointment over the online backlash that followed and tendered an apology to her, while condemning the attacks that escalated the controversy.
“If for any reason she feels offended, I’m sorry,” he said.
“But one thing she has done, which I think is totally wrong, and I would never do this kind of thing, is to use social media rats to come after whoever it is.”
Despite the actress’s call, Afolayan acknowledged Akindele’s success and influence, calling her growth deliberate and strategic.
“I clearly said to them (young filmmakers), that if you want to adopt a model that I think will work for you now, then follow Funke Akindele’s model,” he said.
“Funke started at a younger age, and then she did Jenifa with minimal budget, rolling resources, and from then, look at Funke’s brand now, she has grown.”
Reacting to it, Regina Chukwu reposted a post addressing the situation, noting how life is turn by turn.
The post stated that everyone will be alright in the industry and admonished them to do what they can without shading anyone.
Making a U-turn, the actor tendered an apology to her, claiming that the video was taken out of context.
He claimed that Funke paid him more until he left the location after he complained to her.
