Actress Lizzy Anjorin has chided gospel singer Tope Alabi for refusing to perform at her birthday celebration.
Vanguard gathered that Lizzy’s fan club, The Warriors, booked Tope to add colour to a surprise birthday celebration but kept the identity of the celebrant from the singer.
However, when Tope and her husband Soji Alabi got to Lizzy’s clothing store and discovered she was the celebrant, Tope refused to alight from the car due to personal reasons.
The musician reportedly left and refunded the money she was paid.
Filmmaker Oreofe Williams, who acted as a middleman in the transaction, claimed in an Instagram post that Tope received N2.5 million for the performance.
“Uncle Soji informed me that day would be very busy, and I pleaded with him to attend, having considered any possibility for a rescheduling,” Oreofe wrote.
“He also mentioned the amount was low for a birthday surprise, but I prevailed on Uncle Soji and he eventually honoured my plea to receive the agreed amount (after giving a 70% price reduction due to my intervention).
“However, the requirement of N2.5m was met for the birthday ‘SURPRISE’. Nonetheless, the identity remained hidden until they got to the venue.
“It was at this moment I received a call from Uncle Soji who had already made up his mind to leave the venue.
“Nobody loves to be manipulated. I can tell you authoritatively that he is the President of Gospel Vibes and he takes decisions. He told me on phone he was leaving.
“The reason they returned the money and left was not particularly because of the celebrant or anyone around the venue as I have read in some articles. They felt deceived and were not given the endeared privilege of a choice by conscience.”
Addressing the controversy in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday, Lizzy said she would not bullied, claiming instead that Tope was paid N4 million.
She said, “Aunty Tope, my fans paid you N4 million, and I have the evidence with me. Even if you were paid 500k, were you not an actress? In acting, we were taught that if you are to kiss your enemy on a movie set, you must do it. You are a brand that your husband built with an empty stomach.”
“When the world rejected you, I stood by you,” she said.
The actress also noted that she did not expect her fans to invite a gospel singer since she was a Muslim.
She said, “I’m a Muslim, and I didn’t expect my fans to invite a gospel singer to my birthday. They should have invited an Islamic singer.”
“I don’t celebrate birthdays—only a wicked person would claim I do. I’m not in a position to judge their reaction, but if I had invited them myself, I wouldn’t have paid them anything,” Lizzy added.
The post Lizzy Anjorin addresses Tope Alabi’s refusal to perform for birthday appeared first on Vanguard News.
