Award-winning Nigerian filmmaker Kunle Afolayan is trending after a video surfaced online showing him speaking about divorce and his desire to marry multiple wives.
The filmmaker made the remarks during a watch party for his latest project, Aníkúlápó: The Ghoul Awakens. In the now-viral clip, Afolayan spoke candidly about his personal life and upbringing.
“I am in and out of court seeking a divorce. I don’t mind the toll. So I can marry many wives now,” he said.
Afolayan linked his stance to his late father’s polygamous lifestyle, saying it played a major role in shaping both his life and career journey.
“Without my father, there wouldn’t be a KAP Village or even Kunle Afolayan. I am the seventh child of my father because he had ten wives,” he stated.
He went further to encourage men to consider having multiple partners, framing it as part of life’s bigger picture.
“For the men, marry many women, or rather be involved with many women. You know why? If my father didn’t, he would not have born me, and that is the honest truth. But today, a few of us are lifting his legacy. Life is short, death is constant. Nobody has life forever. Everybody has a period. Use your period.”
The comments have triggered intense reactions online, especially because they contrast sharply with Afolayan’s previous views on polygamy.
In a 2021 interview, the filmmaker had taken a different position, admitting that growing up in a large polygamous household came with serious challenges.
“I would not want to marry many wives because my father had 10 wives, and I knew what happened throughout that period. I knew that really distracted my father,” he had said at the time.
He also spoke about the difficulty of managing a family of 25 children, noting that cultural and language differences made bonding harder.
Social media has since been buzzing, with many fans expressing surprise at what appears to be a change in perspective. While some supporters say he is simply being honest about his personal choices, others have questioned the timing and the contrast with his earlier statements.