Behaviour that got tongues wagging

SHINGAI DARANGWA

With online bloggers incentivised to unearth and expose any potential celebrity controversy, we’re privy to tons of rumours, half-truths and scandalous exposés on a weekly basis.

SCANDALS are never too far away when it comes to the local entertainment industry.

With online bloggers incentivised to unearth and expose any potential celebrity controversy, we’re privy to tons of rumours, half-truths and scandalous exposés on a weekly basis.

We singled out three nasty scandals that shook the country this year.

Nota and Berita go their separate ways

Nota called me a few weeks ago to rebuke and threaten me for consistently referring to him as a “social media troll”. Frantically, he explained that he took umbrage to the title because he’s accomplished too much to be labelled as such.

But, in my view, for the most part, the former music executive’s antics over the past year or so have seen him earn the title of social media troll.

Nota’s latest scandal involves his wife (or ex-wife depending on who you ask), afro soul singer Berita.

Following Nota’s distasteful and controversial comments that Mihlali was for sale and, as such, was an object which could be put down like a dog, Berita broke her silence and put out a statement claiming they were no longer married and she’d had left their marital home due to his being “extremely irresponsible, reckless and unruly”.

Nota didn’t take kindly to this. Since then, he’s been on the offensive, questioning her character at every opportunity and consistently criticising black women on social media.

Samas fiasco

“The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) has withdrawn the Sama Best Contemporary Faith Album award presented to Pulane Maphari for Sacrificial Worship (Live) at last month’s Sama28,” read a shocking press release from the South African Music Awards (Samas) a few weeks ago.

This comes after the awards were shrouded in controversy on several fronts following, among other things, the drama around how Nhlanhla Nivo Ndimande came to be involved as the creative director for the Samas despite being the manager for Musa Keys, who won the award for Record of the Year.

The release further added, “It has come to the attention of the office that Maphari repackaged, renamed and paraded an album she released in 2020 as a new body of work and submitted it for 2021 consideration with the same tracklisting.

“This is in clear violation of the rules of the Sama and equals an automatic disqualification.”

While Maphari took to social media to express her shock and claim in other interviews that it was an honest mistake owing to her inexperience, the damage has been done.

With the investigation ongoing, it’ll be interesting to see how the Samas address this and other institutional issues that abound.

Mihlali Ndamase’s controversial relationship with Leeroy Sidambe

South African YouTuber and media personality Mihlali Ndamase has been the brunt of a lot of social media criticism after it emerged earlier in the year that she was dating local businessman Leeroy Sidambe, the estranged husband of Mary-Jane Sidambe.

At one point the cyberbullying and criticism became so hectic that Sidambe had to put out a statement to clarify his position and call for the bullying to stop.

“In March of this year after many months of trying to make things work, I took steps towards separation from my marriage and the marital home,” said Sidambe.

“The constant defaming of those who work in the public space has to stop. In my view, cyber-bullies are spineless and hateful people, who hide behind the keyboard to strip others of their success with untruths coated as facts.”

Despite Sidambe’s plea, the reputational damage of Ndamase dating a legally married man has been substantial.

Pulane Maphari. Nota and Berita.

SCANDAL

Pulane Maphari.

Nota and Berita.