Award-winning Nigerian lawyer and entertainment business executive, Oyinkansola Fawehinmi, popularly known as Foza, has opened up on how she and her team reviewed more than 5,000 tweets allegedly used to troll and harass singer and songwriter Simi, wife of Afrobeats star Adekunle Gold. Foza, who is a member of Simi’s legal team, disclosed this while speaking as a guest on the JayOnairLive show.
According to her, the online attacks appeared coordinated and were allegedly aimed at emotionally breaking the singer. “We went through over 5,000 tweets of sustained harassment. And the intention was to ensure that Simi becomes a shadow of herself,” she said. Foza further addressed the prolonged bullying and harassment allegedly directed at both Simi and Adekunle Gold, revealing that the attacks occurred during a sensitive period when the singer was expecting a child.
“And mind you, I’m dealing with someone here that has a baby on the way. I’m not going to sit down and let you do that to my clients. Nobody, even you, if you had a wife that’s about to give birth, you’re not going to allow that to happen,” she said during the interview. She also explained the distinction between defamation and harassment, noting that repeated and coordinated online attacks, including threats to personal safety, go beyond ordinary defamatory remarks and could amount to criminal harassment.
“So now defamation is, I come out and say, hey, Jay did X and X and X on this thing. Defamation most of the time is like one or two statements that you make, you know. And for me, it’s like, hey, you have to prove that statement. Harassment is a sustained period of conversation,” she explained. Foza stressed that online attacks against celebrities often have serious real-life consequences, especially regarding business relationships and brand partnerships.
“But people need to understand that these are not just mere statements. They have real-life implications, especially on celebrities. When things like this break out, the first thing is all the brands you’re working with start calling you. You start having to explain yourself,” she added. She also expressed concern over the growing trend of cyberbullying and online harassment within Nigeria’s entertainment industry, particularly on X and other social media platforms. According to her, online trolls and bullies, whose activities are often encouraged by anonymity and monetisation incentives, can pose significant threats both online and offline.
