Nollywood made me lose virginity

Over the years, many Nollywood actresses have come out to talk about their experiences, but have refused to name the perpetrators. Filmmakers, investors, and powerful actors asking for sexual favours to advance careers is just a better-kept dirty secret in Nollywood. But it does exist.

Shirley Frimpong-Manso said she didn’t want to have a daughter because she does not want her child to go through what she did as a young woman.

“Even having a script and trying to get somebody to look at it, I'm first addressed as 'you're a pretty woman' instead of 'this is my work,” she said.

She would see how men would go through the door much quicker than she would because she is first a woman before anything else. "And it made me afraid to want to have a daughter,” she added.

Shirley Frimpong-Manso is a filmmaker popular for "Potato Potahto," "Love or Something like That." (Wikipedia)

Joke Silva recalled the experience of her intern, who she once took on the set of a Nollywood production.

“Some older actor goes to this girl and asks that they discuss, and she says 'fine.' But when he says where she should come for the discussion, she then comes to me and says 'oh, I have been asked to come to this hotel to discuss this and that.' And I say, "Why must it be in a hotel and why must you go alone?'

As a newbie in Nollywood, Blessing Egbe, who is popular for “The Women” and “Lekki Wives,” once had to slap off the “smelly hand” of a big producer/marketer, who caressed her breast when he saw her at a producer’s office.

Narrating her experience to Pulse Nigeria, Egbe said: “He walked in, looked at me for a while and said “nna this gal will be very good for epic feem ooo… I returned his words with a polite smile which he mistook for softness. Next thing, he came to me and started to caress me. The push slap that followed shocked the other producer who exclaimed “Ah, Blessing, that is big marketer Oh. And my reply? And so what?”

Blessing Egbe narrates her experience with a marketer who tried to grab her boobs

If you follow the paper trail, you will get to read about instances of sexual harassment and molestation in Nollywood. During an interview with Daily Post, actress Juliet Patrick Odigwe revealed that a popular producer asked her for six rounds of sex for six movie roles.

Actress Juliet Patrick Odigwe

In 2015, Rahama Sadau took to Instagram to accuse Adam Zango of denying her of a role because she refused his sexual advances. She, however, apologized the next day, describing her post on a matter as sensitive as sexual harassment, as ‘childish.’

Rahama Sadau tayi nadamar abun da ya faru baya, ta baiwa jama'a hakuri

Just like the mainstream Nollywood in the early 2000s, the marketers and distributors are the most powerful in the Yoruba movie industry: They decide whose work gets seen by the public, and in turn, which actress becomes famous.

In 2016, Yoruba filmmaker Seun Egbegbe threatened to destroy the career of his ex-lover, Toyin Aimakhu, warning movie producers to end ties with the actress.

"Anybody that deals with her, the person is on his or her own. And I will act appropriately," he said. "Toyin Aimakhu’s career is finished as far as Yoruba movie sector is concerned," he added.

Toyin Aimakhu with her former lover Seun Egbegbe
(Instagram )

You only need Egbegbe's comments to ascertain how much power these movie producers and marketers wield.

And for most of them, it is an opportunity to exploit their power by dangling the promise of a job or a successful career in exchange for a sexual favor.

In 2014, Emeka Ike reportedly listed Emma Ogugua, Murphy Stephen, Sunny McDon, Okey Bakassi and Ifeanyi Dikeh as producers who demand sexual favours from aspiring actresses. An accusation that was denied by Bakassi during an interview with YNaija.

Emeka Ike

While sexual harassment against women is a much more prevalent situation, the nature of these predatory relationships is not strictly one-sided. Shame, cultural norm and the pressure to appear traditionally masculine are some of the reasons why men rarely share their experiences.

“I think we continuously talk about just the females, I think we need to also explain that there are male actors having their fair share of harassment. Especially, if they are a fine, cute boy," Frimpong-Manso said.

A filmmaker groping an actor. Another one spewing lewd comments on rehearsal set. So, if the casting-couch culture is as common as it is in Nollywood, why isn’t there more outrage about it? Why the deafening silence?

It is probably because victims are still being blamed by their abusers and the world as a whole. There’s also the fear of not being believed, and for an industry such as Nollywood, the knowledge that reporting a powerful abuser could “destroy” a career.

“They may feel that exposing these culprits may leave them jobless or blacklisted or ridiculed by others who feel it’s no big deal,” Blessing Egbe said.

“The reality is that it's scary. You don't want to go against someone like Harvey Weinstein. The guy was one of the biggest shot in Hollywood, so imagine someone like Lupita [a newbie and an African] when she narrated her experience,” Shirley said.

Lupita said Harvey tried to "take off his pants" in front of her 

Weinstein denied Lupita’s claims that he had tried to "take off his pants" in front of her and asked if he could massage her.

Shirley recalled reading that New York Times’ Jodi Kantor, who turned the Harvey Weinstein ‘open secret’ into a big story, was bombarded by lawyers to drop the story for a long time.

The Weinstein’s case has something similar to several other cases of sexual assault and rape: people knew.

The cases of sexual harassment in Nollywood are known by a lot of people. Most of them excuse the casting-couch mentality with outrageous comments ranging from “it is not a Producer or director's fault if an actor decides to go the extra mile for the role’ to “it is what it is, an actor must pay his or her dues.

Blessing Egbe said that actresses who eventually become victims are coerced by producers, who list names of superstars who have ‘supposedly slept their way through.'