Nollywood veteran Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has sparked online discussions with a candid revelation during her appearance on the Afropolitan Podcast. Omotola reaves that she has only encountered organized duping in America, never in Nigeria, despite her extensive career in the entertainment industry.
The episode, titled “The Nollywood Crisis: Why Being a Star Means Going Broke,” delves into Omotola’s three-decade journey in film, her experiences in Hollywood, and the challenges facing Nigerian cinema. In the viral segment, Omotola explains,
“Look, I’ve only been duped in America. I’ve never been duped in Nigeria. Yeah, in the five years that I’ve stayed there and I’m not talking about thieves—I’m talking about organized bodies. So it is done legally. It’s in the fine print.”
She emphasizes the subtlety of such deceptions, adding,
“So my point is this: Anybody can misuse opportunities, monies. There are things done to mitigate these things. There are standards, there are procedures. So I believe that if Nigerians and or Nollywood were to be strict to follow those… those standards and procedures, it would prevent misuse.”
Omotola, often hailed as one of Africa’s most influential actresses with over 300 films to her credit, relocated to Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking new opportunities in Hollywood. She discusses the stark differences between the two industries, including Nollywood’s struggles with funding, piracy, and the recent exodus of streaming platforms like Netflix from Nigeria. Her comments on being “duped” appear in the context of broader conversations about exploitation in entertainment deals, where fine print in contracts can lead to unfavorable outcomes for artists. She advocates for stricter adherence to professional standards in Nollywood to safeguard creators, drawing parallels to her American experiences where legal loopholes allowed for what she perceives as organized fraud.