Chude Jideonwo, the media personality, has revealed the inspiration behind his interview series WithChude.
In an interview with filmmaker Mo Abudu ahead of his 40th birthday, Jideonwo revealed that he created WithChude from a “unique place” after overcoming depression.
He recalled facing intense backlash over his involvement in the 2015 campaign, which left him feeling overwhelmed and questioning why Nigerians hated him.
The Red Media boss was President Muhammadu Buhari’s media strategist in the 2015 presidential election.
During the interview, Jideonwo said his search for answers led him to an episode of ‘Super Soul Sunday’ featuring Oprah Winfrey and Brené Brown, where the latter discussed handling criticism without losing vulnerability.
He revealed that the conversation healed and inspired him to create a show that would have the same impact on Africans.
“WithChude comes from a unique place. I was going through clinical depression in 2016, and in 2017, after overcoming it, I noticed I was trending on Twitter,” he said.
“I trended on Twitter for three days consistently for what I did with the 2015 campaign. People continued to criticise it for three days.
“One day, I woke up, picked up my phone, saw the trend, and broke down in tears. I then called a colleague asking him why Nigerians hate me so much. He gave me an intellectual strategic answer but it was not what I was looking for because I was hurt.
“So, I went on YouTube and searched ‘what do when people hate you’. I came across an interview between Oprah Winfrey and Brené Brown.
“They were talking about Brown’s viral TED talk on shame and vulnerability and how people attacked her for being overweight. So, she talked about how you have to be ready for backlash when you are in the arena without losing your ability to feel.
“The conversation healed me and that motivated the show, a show that heals people. The show was recorded by Oprah in Chicago or wherever and I was in Lagos being healed. So, I said to myself that I would do a show like this but for Africans.”
WithChude was launched in 2020 and has since featured some of Nigeria’s most prominent names.
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