Renowned Nigerian comedian AY Makun has responded to recent allegations made by Afrobeat singer Seun Kuti, who accused AY of mocking him by portraying his daughter as a ‘dog’ in a satirical skit.
In a video shared on Instagram, AY vehemently denied ever depicting Seun’s child as a “dog” in his skits and urged Seun to have a more expansive sense of humor, emphasizing that both of them draw inspiration from Seun’s late father, Fela Kuti, who used humor as a tool for social commentary.
AY expressed his love for children, explaining that he had struggled to have kids for over a decade and would never mock a child by referring to them as a dog.
He encouraged Seun to take jokes in stride and reminded him of the long-standing tradition of humor in their field, just as Fela Kuti used satire for social commentary. AY stated, “I made a decision to respond to this because he mentioned that I addressed his baby as a dog. For me, I love kids. I am one human being who looked for kids for like 13 years. I do not think I would find myself in a position to mock another living being as a child and refer to that child as a dog.”
AY further said, “For some reason, I know that you have traveled far and wide. Your sense of humour should be more open to jokes if we say it is a joke and then you can take it as a joke. You throw shades, Seun. Nobody comes for you. Your dad used to do ‘yabbings’ night. Yabbing everybody in politics. He used to do all of that and people go there to laugh because they know that he is a social commentator. He is doing his job. We are doing the same thing. So, I do not see why you take offense on my own. Your father taught us this job.”
AY clarified that the skit in question was a reflection of trending issues at the time, including the controversy surrounding fuel subsidies and an incident involving Hilda Baci, a celebrated chef, and Enioluwa, who were in the spotlight for consuming dog meat. He explained that the skit was not meant to offend Seun or his family but rather to comment on these current events and generate laughter.
According to AY, “Now, the skit was a reflection of trending issues. I talked about fuel subsidy which was trending at that time. And if I recall, at that time, Hilda Baci and Enioluwa were both trending for eating dog meat.” He added, “And a woman called them out. And then I mentioned the name Hilda [in the scene where the dog was sitting in the back seat of the car in the skit]. That was what I was portraying in that video.”
In his response, AY defended the use of humor as a means of addressing contemporary issues, just as Fela Kuti had done in the past. He emphasized that their roles as comedians were akin to those of social commentators, and it was not intended to hurt or disrespect anyone.
