As I curled through the glories I have seen, realizing how much error I have made public, I call it ‘luck’ as many would because probably no one wanted to talk about them.
Entertainment has changed from what it used to be, and what I see online every now and then makes me wonder if it would be easy to live a scandal free live as a Nigerian celebrity. At every point in time, someone is busy watching your grammar, others watch your fashion sense and some others who cannot see anything on you, watch the people you mingle with.
I used to believe it would be a one way train to fame; no stopping, but I have come to realize how wrong I was because the train keeps stopping, if not for you, then for others.
Just like Tuface said in the song ‘implication’, “Just because say I dey there, I follow enter the yawa”, the road to fame and staying famous will swing you and at times bend you to do things you’ll never realize would finish you.
It is normal for people to believe that entertainers are careless because the profession is somehow seen as a careless one where anything goes. So it someone becomes a lawless thing where anyone can be hit anytime.
People create fake stories for themselves to draw attention; others are unlucky to be the victim of the prying eyes of Nigerian media and thanks to the bloggers who back up the content creators, the story blows like a nuclear bomb in minutes.
At times, the media takes advantage of an entertainer’s imperfection, just like we have branded our First Lady the opposite of an English teacher. The truth is simply this, if you take away ‘wanna gonna’ from the lips of entertainers, the First Lady would be a role model in English language where some of them are. Even though her mistakes a few, her position has amplified it to the level we would be thinking she does that every day.
Maybe someone could still wonder if Maheeda walks the street the same way she has always appeared online recently.
For those creating police ‘arrest stories’ for themselves, claiming they have been caught with substances that would be considered as hard drugs, don’t be offended when another writer refers to that in 10 years time when you must have quit entertainment. After all, your crime is your crime, even if you turn born again.
Only God forgives and forgets, the media don’t, they forgive and refer. Always reminding you of the sins you committed. ‘Former bad boy or bad girl’, is never a good title.
Someone once told me that negative stories are not supposed to be written about some people in the industry. If negative news will not come with the name of some people, then who will be on the news?
It is a simple thing for every entertainer, once you are in, you are in. One should even be grateful every time the media is looking their way because it simply means you are news worthy and being news worthy means you really have a worth in the industry.
No blog, magazine, newspaper or other media are hype factories. They are media outfits which means it might get ugly sometimes and entertainers who are usually the subjects in the hype stories pay the price.
I see upcoming artistes and some stars making calls when they see certain things about them online. Reserve that calls for the day someone would be lying against you. Why call a journalist shouting and threatening him when everything he said is true and the proofs are there for everyone to see. That is a waste of time. Sue him if you think he is lying.
I once got a call from someone who claimed he is not really angry but would appreciate it if I change the news to hype; I laughed and said “brother, they still pay for hypes”.
Some people believe that the hypes they receive from bloggers and other media houses are their birthrights. They can neither tweet ‘thanks’ in return nor make that call for gratitude. Once they see negative news, they are the next ranting and blabbing at media personnel they have never paid a dime to.
Kudos to those that have shown maturity so far, forgetting those that have used negative promotions to excel, just have in mind that someone has created a folder on his computer with your name, saving all the nude pictures you have been posting online with the funny comments that follow them.
Don’t be surprised to see headlines like ‘naked princess set to wed’ ’20 nude moments of single Jane’, before or after your wedding. Would such titles be considered unfair? Because it will take a strong man to hold himself when such post are flying around blogs and magazines in the country days before or after his wedding to you. Hope you won’t faint if he leaves you, because that would be a perfect example of ‘he who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully’
And for the guys who go on using gay and bad boy gestures to shine; no wahala. Aside the new bill prohibiting same sex marriage in Nigeria, pity your children who would surely be stigmatized in school. Imagine other kids reminding him who his dad or mum used to be? It will never be funny because some kids might hate their parents forever for that.
Cooking up a negative image just to excel in the industry will never end and the fact still remains that writers like me at times are the architects of these stories. But all goes with the consent of the subject who is fully aware of the terms and conditions he accepted.
Ending like I did in the previous edition; every entertainer should simply know this, ‘there is nothing like privacy for you. You are able to achieve privacy only on the things you can conceal from the entire world. As long as you are there with someone, just have in mind that it would one day get to the public.
The days of success might be too long that no one wants to follow it to the end, but the days of scandals are always short and people especial your diehard fans want to follow it to the end.
This is a plain truth which will tell every entertainer that no matter how much people love you, they will be the first to open links to stories that says bad about you.
This is something no one can change no matter how good you are. They are just the facts in the terms and conditions you agreed to when you signed up to be an entertainer.
Chinedu Hardy Nwadike, writes from Owerri, Imo State. chikinow@yahoo.com 08038704454, @hardynwa, BBM 222E7850
