How I was blacklisted for refusing to sleep with film marketers — Moji Afolayan

Veteran Nollywood actress, Moji Afolayan, has revealed that she was blacklisted in the movie industry for refusing to yield to sexual advances from film marketers during the early stages of her career.

Speaking in a recent interview on Oyinmomo TV, the 57-year-old actress and daughter of the late legendary actor, Adeyemi ‘Adeluv’ Afolayan, opened up about how maintaining her values and dignity came at the cost of fame and career growth.

According to Moji Afolayan, in the era when Idumota-based film marketers largely financed Nollywood projects, many film marketers demanded sexual favours from actresses in exchange for roles.

Her refusal to participate in such exchanges, she said, led to her being shut out of opportunities.

“This is because, at that time, when we had marketers at Idumota, they used to give producers money to work.

“However, due to the kind of training I received at home, I cannot trade my body for movies. My husband, who married me, has not even done anything. You will notice that I am trying to speak in proverbs,” she said.

“Because I did not do it, they held a meeting among themselves not to call me. I did not sleep with them. I did not offer my body for sex.”

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Afolayan noted that while she held on to her principles, many of her colleagues, including married women, succumbed to the demands of marketers without the knowledge of their spouses.

“They are all watching this programme. People who are doing it are doing it. Many of them will have their husbands outside while the wives will be with them inside. I am exposing their secrets now,” she said.

“They would tell me, ‘is it only my husband?’ I was like is it because you want to help. Then you would have to hold on to your help.

“I thank God I stood with my dignity. That is what I am enjoying today. I held on to my virginity.

“I stand out among them now. I have only received mercy. They made them stars. Their posters were all around.

“But when they tried to stand alone, there was a great fight, which was bound to happen in that kind of relationship. I did not inform my husband at the time.

“It was because I did not offer myself for sex that they denied me movie roles.”

She also recalled a colleague, now late, who was similarly rejected after turning down a marketer’s sexual advances.

“I was not the only person they did it to. There was one person who was late now, took her job to a marketer there at Arena, but it was turned down.

“The lady at the time told me to continue with my nobility. She narrated how the marketer told her how he had slept with in the industry,” she said.

Moji added that her  refusal to sleep with film marketers affected her income and visibility in the industry, but she remains proud of the decision to protect her body and values.

“They now know how it feels. They have made us social media-friendly. They have pushed us to put movies on YouTube. It affected me in terms of income and fame. I cherish my body more than anything. Even my husband knows.”

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE