Omotola dismisses feud rumours with Genevieve Nnaji

Veteran Nollywood actress Omotola Jalade Ekeindehas reacted to long-standing rumours of a rift between her and fellow actress Genevieve Nnaji, insisting there was never any personal feud between them.

Speaking during an interview on Yanga FM, a clip of which surfaced on Instagram on Wednesday, Omotola dismissed claims that they were ever at loggerheads.

She said the perceived rivalry was largely fuelled by fans and media narratives at the height of their careers.

According to her, the industry and the public often created competition stories even when there was no real conflict behind the scenes.

Responding in a mix of English and Pidgin when asked whether there had ever been a prolonged disagreement between them before working together in EJ, she maintained that nothing of the sort occurred.

“People don’t need to be best friends, but we talked. Like behind film, we dey talk normally. You know the same thing that they do with all these music stars, na we dem take start all those things that time. Na we be the practice that time.

“You know all this Wizkid, Davido now that they have taken to different level, na we be the first one now. Really, na them start the quarrel before we know say we dey quarrel. So, we have to catch up with the quarrel. There was no quarrel.”

She added that comparisons pushed by the industry often created tension where none existed.

“We were young, everybody dey do hin own thing now you know how the industry is. You know, them go pitch you against this person, talk say na this one be the hottest girl, na that one be the hottest girl. So, those kind tension go dey normally, but people they read am as other things.

“But people they read them as other things, but me, where you wan see me dey quarrel? I’ve never been somebody you can sit to quarrel with,” she said.

Omotola further noted that both she and Genevieve are reserved individuals, making public conflict unlikely.

“I’m not always around and she sef she be that kind person, so where we wan see the quarrel,” she asked.

The comments come after Omotola weighed in on the ongoing debate over marketing strategies adopted by actors and filmmakers to promote movies in cinemas and on streaming platforms.

The Guardian earlier reported that the debate gained momentum after filmmaker Kunle Afolayan said at the Lagos Business of Film Summit that he would not resort to dancing to promote a film. He described the constant pressure to create promotional content as unsustainable.

Actress Funke Akindele later responded, stating that she was not standing in the way of his progress and that “the sky is wide enough for everyone to fly.” Afolayan subsequently clarified that his remarks were not directed at Akindele and stressed that he had “no personal issues with the actress.”

During an appearance on E Splash on TVC, while speaking about her upcoming film Mothers Love, scheduled for cinema release on March 6, Jalade Ekeinde said she does not subscribe to dancing as a marketing strategy.

“I’m sorry, I will not be doing the dancing. It’s just not me. I dance. I love to dance. I’m sure a lot of us love to dance. I think the problem and the reason why a lot of people are kicking back at it is. You want to dance because you feel like it, not because you have to. There’s a difference, okay? So there’s nothing wrong with, oh, you’re promoting your movie and you guys are just having fun.

“That’s different, but when it becomes a chore, when it becomes, oh, this is what you have to do even to sell a movie, it’s not professional. I already did the project. I should go around, talk about the project, and promote it, and then let the people whose jobs are to distribute and do the advertising for the project handle that. That’s how it’s done in better times. Let me not use another word. That’s the professional thing to do.”

She also argued that dancing to promote films is not part of an actor’s professional responsibility.

“There’s nothing wrong with actors promoting their work, but when the onions are on the actor almost alone to do that, and then now you’re doing nearly demeaning things to promote a project. It wears you down to the point where you don’t look forward to another project, because you have to go through the whole process again. It’s exhausting. In the United States, for example, some actors are not even on Instagram.

“They are not even on social media. You will never find Daniel Day-Lewis on social media. I don’t even think you can see Leonardo DiCaprio on social media. These guys are actors. They know their job. They come, do their job, and leave. Whoever’s job it is to take that project afterwards and distribute, market, and promote it takes the project from that stage and goes to do their job. You do billboards. You do whatever you need to do. Don’t leave that burden on me. It’s not my job. Unfortunately, this is Nigeria,” she said.

Jalade Ekeinde further stated that such strategies are often optional elsewhere and should be done for fun, not as a compulsory requirement.

“You don’t see singers. You know, I mean, you guys have your lovely musicians and everything. They don’t sing after singing and they don’t come and start doing another… My point is they don’t have to. If they do it, they do it for fun. I mean, if I’m promoting my music on social media and I’m just singing to my own song, dancing to my own song, that’s different.

“But, I mean, I’m sure a lot of actors just do that. You know, but if it now becomes, oh, I have to have a schedule to do that. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to post a video. Oh my God. You just did somebody’s job, then they give you another schedule. You know, because you have to do all this content. And now it’s so bad that people don’t even get hired because, I mean, actors are not getting hired because they refuse to do that.”

She also criticised the growing tendency to cast individuals based primarily on social media following rather than training and experience.

“There would always be influencers. There are influencers in music and entertainment. So there will always be influencers that you would hire now and then, to, you know, boost something. Maybe they’re reigning at that time. They are not actors. There are people whose job, and whose sweat, their time, their experience, are in this craft. You don’t compare them with those people.

“I think the problem with Nigeria, with every profession, not just the entertainment industries, is that we don’t respect experience. We don’t respect the time that people have put into a craft. If we did, and we understood that this is what this person has been doing for a while, they have put in time and now have experience in this thing, and you respect them for that, then let them do their job. And they get someone else who does something else better to do that.”

According to her, the trend persists largely because filmmakers are trying to cut costs and shift additional responsibilities to actors.

“So you have bad acting generally, on screen, and then you disbalance the whole status quo thing. And then actors are out of work, and then you have this. I don’t want to call them charlatans sometimes. I’m not talking about any particular person; I’m just saying people who like to take advantage of stuff. It could not even be a big group of people; it could be someone who’s just famous. You know somebody famous for maybe doing something crazy on Instagram or social media for a minute.

“And then you make them act and continue to act. They’re not sick. It’s not just about the acting, it’s also about the discipline, you see. So it’s not just what you see on camera. What about things you don’t see on camera? I mean, that’s even nice when you say, What’s up?” (Guardian)