Last week was eventful in showbiz. TheCable Lifestyle examines the top entertainment news that got tongues wagging in the past seven days.
AY THREATENS TO SUE JULIUS AGWU
The controversy among Nigerian comedians took another dimension when AY Makun threatened to sue Julius Agwu for alleged defamation.
Agwu had said he began his Easter show ‘Laugh For Christ Sake’ long before AY started promoting his own concert.
The comedian added that he called AY to tell him that the date for the two concerts clashed but he (AY) hung up on him.
AY, however, put out a statement to refute the accusations made by Agwu about taking over his Easter Sunday show date.
He also threatened to take legal action against Agwu should the accusations continue.
“Dear senior colleague Julius Agwu, my question is, how is it even possible to lay claims to the fact that I took over your Easter Sunday date with the following verifiable facts,” the statement reads in part.
“Laff 4 Christ Sake stopped in 2009 and only came back on October 23rd, 2011. The same year I did AY Live on Workers’ Day May 1st (which obviously was not on Easter Sunday).
“Should this continue without any proof to your claims of me bewitching you, I will be filing a slanderous lawsuit against you for consistently trying to damage my reputation.”
KUNLE REMI SPEAKS ON AMVCA SNUB
Last week, some Nigerians took to Twitter to register their shock over the omission of Kunle Remi, the actor, from the 2023 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) nomination list.
The nominees for the 9th AMVCA were announced by Bisola Aiyeola and Adjetey Anang, the TV stars.
While a plethora of prominent and upcoming actors made the nomination list, a noticeable omission was Remi.
His absence from the list came after his sterling performance as ‘Saro’ in ‘Anikulapo‘ — a movie that snagged 16 nominations.
Nigerian movie lovers took to the microblogging platform to express their disbelief that Kunle didn’t make the nomination list despite the dominance of ‘Anikulapo’.
In his reaction, Remi joked about winning his category if he had made the nominees list.
GHANA’S RAPPER OBRAFOUR SUES DRAKE
Last Tuesday, Obrafour filed a complaint in New York claiming Drake’s track ‘Calling My Name’ features a short clip of a vocal phrase — ‘Killer cut, blood, killer cut’ — pulled directly from his 2003 song, ‘Oye Ohene’ featuring Tinny.
Obrafour is seeking at least $10 million in damages and a share of profits from record sales, streaming, live performances, and other sources of revenue associated with ‘Calling My Name.’
“Defendants continue to engage in infringement, despite acknowledging that they needed to secure rights and authorization from Obrafour,” Obrafour’s lawyers wrote.
“Defendants have never accounted to, credited, or otherwise compensated Obrafour for their unauthorized use of the copyrighted work.”
SKALES: I WAS HOMELESS AFTER LEAVING BANKY W’S EME
Skales last week detailed his struggles after leaving Empire Mates Entertainment (EME), Banky W’s record label.
The rapper, born Raoul John Njeng-Njeng, joined EME in 2010 and left in 2014 following the expiration of his four-year recording contract.
Skales said he struggled and became homeless for almost a year after leaving the label until Olamide, the ace rapper, came to his rescue.
“My deal with them (EME) was done and they refused to continue because I wasn’t doing well at that time,” he said.
“So, Olamide called me and said there is this song I’m hearing everywhere, I was told you sang it.
“I asked him if he was talking about ‘Shake Body’ and he said yes. Then he asked if I wasn’t going to shoot the video. I told him I was homeless and didn’t even have a place to stay not to talk of shooting a video. Then he asked me to send my account and promised to send me money for the shoot.
“I got the money shortly after sending the account number. I was like, this guy wasn’t even my friend. My life around after that video shoot”.
BURNA BOY IS THE ‘KING OF CONCERT’ IN AFRICA
Burna Boy was ranked the African artiste with the highest revenue from a single concert.
Top Charts Africa, a pop magazine, curated a list of artistes whose reported single-concert revenue stood out.
The numbers, it clarified, were sourced from Bloomberg and the boxscore aggregators Touring Data and Pollstar.
In the 10-entry list, Burna Boy occupied seven slots, leaving two for Wizkid and one for Tiwa Savage.
Burna Boy’s highest-yielding concert was listed as his Madison Square Garden gig of April 28, 2022, in New York City.
The acclaimed concert at the 20,789-capacity stadium, according to the list, earned Burna Boy a whopping $1,576,641. It was reported to have sold a total of 13,586 tickets.
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