Adunni Ade, the actress, has refuted a claim that she owed Murphy Afolabi, the late filmmaker, the sum of N250,000.
In a now-viral video, an Islamic cleric said Afolabi offered money to Adunni for a movie role.
He claimed the actress failed to refund the money after she didn’t turn up on the movie set.
Speaking during the 8-day Fidau prayer held in honour of the late actor in Lagos, the cleric asked Adunni to “return the said money.”
Reacting to the allegation, in a statement signed by Aderemi Adeleye, her media aide, the actress argued she was only paid N150,000 as an honorarium; not her “professional fee”.
She claimed she returned the money back to the filmmaker.
She also shared a screenshot to show proof of payment she made in October 2021.
“On behalf of popular Nollywood Actor and Content Creator, the unassuming Adunni Adewale, aka Adunni Ade, we write to set the record straight regarding a video making the rounds in which our Client was called out by a Muslim Cleric with claims of her owing the late Actor/Producer, Mr. Murphy Afolabi. The allegation is false,” the statement reads in part.
“This isn’t the time for anyone to slander others or say things that will impinge negatively on the memory of a man I treated with honour and respect. Let us all respect the dead.
“I never cheated him in his lifetime nor would I ever cheat him or anyone in the afterlife. May his soul rest in peace.
“Sometime in July 2021, the late Mr. Murphy Afolabi reached out to me, requiring my services for movie production. He appealed to me stating that it was a self-funded production and that he couldn’t afford my professional fee, but that he would need my moral support.
“I asked how many scenes and duration were expected of me on set. He said 10 scenes and that I would spend one day. He offered to ‘fuel my car’ as honorarium, which payment was made on 02 July 2021 for N150,000.
“Unfortunately, on 11 July 2021 shortly before the commencement of the production, I lost my younger brother. I contacted Mr. Murphy Afolabi a few days afterwards to request for his bank account details, to send him a refund, as I would be travelling to the United States for my younger brother’s funeral, and to spend time with the rest of my family.
“He insisted I held on to the money while he figured out whether to move the shoot forward or contact me for another one.
“I returned to Lagos end of September 2021 and waited for his call. Mr. Murphy Afolabi contacted me 08 October 2021 and said he wanted to start a new job soon and needed me for 4 days, playing the lead but for the same amount of N150,000 which he had paid in July.
“I respectfully declined, requested for his bank account details and transferred to his bank account the full refund of N150,000 on the same day 08 October 2021. Proof of both payments are attached in this post.”
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Afolabi passed away on May 14.
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