Nigerian rapper and actor Folarin Falana, known as Falz, has addressed the ongoing controversy involving social media personality VeryDarkMan, who made serious allegations against him and his father, Femi Falana.
In an interview on the Afrobeat podcast, Falz spoke about the claims that he and his father manipulated justice and bribed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The controversy started when VeryDarkMan released a viral audio clip on September 24, 2024. In the audio, popular social media personality Bobrisky (Idris Okuneye) claimed he had bribed officials to drop money laundering charges against him. Bobrisky also alleged that Falz and his father were involved in helping facilitate these actions. This led to widespread backlash against Falz, who quickly demanded a retraction from VeryDarkMan, giving him a 24-hour ultimatum to withdraw his statements.
Reacting to the false accusations, Falz expressed his frustration during the podcast, saying, “One day, [VeryDarkMan] thought it wise to turn on his ring light, sit down, and through direct statements, insinuations, and innuendos, allege that myself and my dad connived with certain individuals to manipulate justice and bribe the EFCC. He even added that the reason I did this is because I have a homosexual relationship with Bobrisky. Personally, how would anyone feel? These are horrible things to say with absolutely no proof.”
Falz and his father took legal action against VeryDarkMan. On October 14, 2024, a Lagos State High Court ordered VeryDarkMan to remove all defamatory content related to Falz and his father from his social media platforms. The court also mandated that VeryDarkMan stop making any further defamatory statements and issue an apology across all platforms where the allegations were shared.
Falz, addressing the legal case, explained, “I have gone to court for defamation of character because that’s clearly what this is. The case is still very much ongoing, and the court has ordered him to take down the defamatory video and stop making further defamatory remarks pending the conclusion of the case.”
He also clarified that while there is a criminal angle to defamation, he chose not to pursue it. “He could very well have been arrested, but I chose not to go down that route. Now they’re trying to paint a narrative that my family and I are oppressors because we have legal power. Come on, I don’t look for trouble.”
Falz noted that although there were claims of an apology, it was not a sincere attempt to resolve the issue. “He posted something on his Instagram story, but it wasn’t an apology. The defamatory video still exists on his page.”
The legal proceedings are ongoing, and Falz emphasized that the full truth will come out in court. “Since he really wants litigation, the rest of the explanation will be done in court,” he concluded.
