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, insisting that the claims against him are baseless and defamatory.
Speaking on the matter on The Afro Beat Podcast published on Wednesday via YouTube, Falz revealed that before the controversy, he knew little about Verydarkman’s activism.
“I don’t know much of it. I’ll be honest with you,” he stated, acknowledging that he had seen some of the influencer’s early content, particularly related to issues like the sale of unregulated 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,” he added.
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.”
He criticised the influencer for making unfounded claims without evidence.
He said, “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.”
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 said, “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.”