Nollywood actor and filmmaker, Femi Durojaiye has slammed actress Kemi Lala Akindoju, for ‘her uncouthness’, saying she lacks home training.
As reported on eelive.ng, the issue between the duo started when Akindoju called out Durojaiye and accused him of exploiting aspiring actors by demanding money in exchange for film roles.
Akindoju tweeted on Saturday, February 6, 2021, after a post Durojaiye shared on Instagram attracted reactions among actors.
In the trending post dated January 29, the veteran actor had asked upcoming actors to pay ₦35,000 to join his ‘movie projects’.
Referring to him as “a certain Femi Durojaiye”, Akindoju referred to her colleague’s actions as fraudulent, maintaining that actors need not pay to audition or get a role in Nollywood.
Expressing his disappointment at the way Akindoju addressed him and aired her message, Durojaiye, in a chat with eelive.ng said the former’s post was a complete show of shame, adding that he was disappointed.
While maintaining that Nollywood is an industry in which players respect each other, the veteran actor noted that Akindoju displayed unruly behaviour.
His words: “I felt so disrespected. I didn’t even know this girl from anywhere, I’ve never heard about her. People like me only go to social media for purpose, and as such all these young celebrities, a lot of us don’t know them.
“So when I saw what she wrote that one certain Femi Durojaiye, I felt deeply offended that such is coming from a girl that her parents are probably my fans. This girl that grew up watching me on TV; she was probably in nursery school when I started my acting career, referred to me as a certain Femi Durojaiye. She lacks home training.
“Of course, I replied her on her Twitter account …that in our industry, people respect each other. Her post is a complete show of lack of respect and I’m disappointed. It’s okay for her to disagree, but there should be proper decorum. This was a girl that didn’t even reach out to me and be like ‘Egborn (sic), I understand you are doing this, what is going on?’ At least, you must know your subject matter, the one you want to criticize. She had no idea of what I was doing.”
Explaining his reason for soliciting money from actors, Durojaiye said he floated a project dubbed Project 100, which was designed to train actors and expose them to the commercial value of the profession.
Durojaiye said the N35,000 fee was a requirement for actors to be part of the project which had been formally copyrighted with the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
“As a matter of fact, our subscribers started with a formal class training on Production. And I’m happy to say that many of those who attended the training are still with us till today. They even took part in our first Movie project this year.
“Because of the genuineness of the project, which we designed to train talents and expose them to how to gain commercial success, Project 100 was formally copyrighted by the Nigerian Copyright Commission,” he added.
