Nollywood actor Yomi Fabiyi has countered actress Bimpe Oyebade after she claimed he sexually harassed him. The controversial actor alleged she stole from him while he was supporting her acting career.
WithinNigeria had earlier reported that Bimpe Oyebade, also known as Mo Bimpe in her reaction to Fabiyi’s latest movie, ‘Oko Iyabo’, stated that he threatened, tormented and terrorised her for refusing his sexual advances.
In Fabiyi’s defense, he noted he did no wrong to the actress while admitting he made romantic gestures towards the beautiful screen diva. He added she was the one who wronged him when she hijacked people he worked with without consulting him.
In his recent chat with Sunday Scoop, Fabiyi said, “Ask her if she made sexual advances to me and not vice versa. I did not notice her first. She was the one that noticed me. Besides, if we did make advances at each other, we are both adults. The most important thing is that there was no force. Do not make it look like because I am an actor, I do not have a right to have emotions or sexual feelings.
“Sexual attraction is different from sexual harassment. We need to educate these young people. We are talking about sexual harassment and she is talking about ‘toasting’. Is that not silly?”
Fabiyi further explained that he casted Mo Bimpe a major role in her movie without auditioning her because he chose to support her. “How did she get a major role in one of my movies? She never came to me to learn about movies; she did not do any audition. I had already concluded my audition. She came to me as a fan and I decided to encourage her.”
“She knows what she did that made me change towards her. I am an adult and I am free to be sexually attracted to anybody. At least, I am thankful to God that she never said I forced her. There is nothing that says that she has automatic roles (in my movies). I do not know the kind of entitlement she has to think she can always feature in my movies. I will take time to explain what she did.
“The first thing she did that made me change towards her was that I brought her into the industry in 2015 and on the last day of the movie shoot in 2015, she left and I did not set my eyes on her until January 2019.
“In between that, she had shot three movies. I do not know the kind of relationship she built with my sponsor, production manager and cinematographer. All I just heard was that she was planning a production behind me. What audacity.
“I brought her into the industry because I wanted her to be great and known. I wanted her to have a career, so, why was she cutting corners? At the end of day, she called to tell me that she had a job for me. I told her that the person she gave the job, she knew him through me because he was my production manager. That was why I cut that person off from my production forever.
“She hijacked all my ‘backbones’ without consulting me. If she had asked me, I would not have stopped her. Why are you stealing what is yours? Several other things transpired but she can continue to tie it around the fact that she did not give in to my sexual advances.”
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