Nigerian rapper and human rights activist, Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has publicly addressed the defamatory claims made against him by social media influencer Martins Otse, also known as Verydarkman. The allegations have sparked a significant controversy, leading Falz to take legal action.
In an interview on The Afro Beat Podcast, which was released on YouTube on Wednesday, Falz expressed his surprise over the accusations, stating that he was not familiar with Verydarkman’s activism before the controversy.
Falz acknowledged seeing some of the influencer’s earlier content, which addressed issues such as the sale of unregulated skin-bleaching products. “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,” Falz said during the interview.
However, things took a different turn when Verydarkman accused Falz and his father, renowned lawyer Femi Falana, of being involved in manipulating justice for personal gain. The accusations did not stop there, as Verydarkman also alleged that Falz had a homosexual relationship with controversial crossdresser Bobrisky, further questioning the rapper’s credibility as an activist.
Reacting to these claims, Falz voiced his frustration and disbelief. He stated, “How would anyone feel? These are horrible things to say. Absolutely no proof.” The rapper emphasized that the claims were completely baseless and harmful to his reputation. “All these things are false, basically. So now you have to defend yourself because he who alleges must prove,” Falz added.
In response to the defamatory statements, Falz has taken legal action, filing a defamation suit against Verydarkman. He clarified during the podcast that no financial settlement, such as the reported N500 million, had been ordered by the court.
However, the court did issue an interim ruling, instructing Verydarkman to remove the defamatory videos from his social media platforms. Falz explained, “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.”
