Nigerian rapper and activist, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has responded to recent allegations made by social media influencer Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, News About Nigeria reports.
While speaking on The Afro Beat Podcast, which was published on Wednesday, Falz described the allegations as baseless and defamatory.
He noted that before the controversy, he knew little about Verydarkman’s activism, stating that he had seen some of the influencer’s early content, particularly related to issues like selling unregulated bleaching products.
“I don’t know much of it. I’ll be honest with you.
“At that time when I saw some of those clips, I was like, okay, this person seems to be doing something right. This is a good cause,” he stated.
Recall that the controversy began when VeryDarkMan made serious allegations that Falz and his father, Femi Falana, had colluded with certain individuals to manipulate justice.
According to Falz, VeryDarkMan accused him of having a homosexual relationship with popular crossdresser Bobrisky, questioning the rapper’s credibility as an activist.
Addressing the allegations, Falz expressed his shock, saying, “How would anyone feel? These are horrible things to say. Absolutely no proof.”
Falz also addressed recent misreporting, clarifying that while no financial settlement had been ordered by the court, there was a ruling for Verydarkman to take down the defamatory video.
He stated, “All these things are false, basically. So now you have to defend yourself because he who alleges must prove. I’ve gone to court for defamation of character because that’s clearly what this is.
“Now, recently it was reported that the court has ordered N500 million to be paid, blah, blah, I mean, that’s false. The case of defamation is still very much in court. Yes, we have instituted proceedings for defamation because, of course, that is what this is.
“That is very much still ongoing. However, there’s something called interim applications, which you can do while a substantive case is still ongoing. You can apply to the court for an injunction because this defamation still subsists.
“This video I speak of is still very much on his page, on his pages. He has not taken them down.
“The ruling that the court gave was to take this down and desist from any further defamatory remarks pending the determination of this substantive suit. That is what that is.”