Nigerian rapper and activist Folarin Falana, widely known as Falz, has firmly denied recent accusations made by social media influencer Martins Otse, also known as Verydarkman, asserting that the allegations are unfounded and defamatory.
In a recent episode of The Afro Beat Podcast, Falz discussed the situation and admitted he had limited knowledge of Verydarkman’s activism prior to the controversy. “I don’t know much of it. I’ll be honest with you,” he stated, recalling that he had encountered some of Verydarkman’s earlier content focused on unregulated bleaching products. “At that time, when I saw some of those clips, I was like, okay, this person seems to be doing something right. This is a good cause,” he added.
The controversy erupted when Verydarkman made serious claims that Falz and his father, Femi Falana, had collaborated with certain parties to manipulate justice. Falz addressed accusations regarding his alleged involvement in a homosexual relationship with crossdresser Bobrisky, which he deemed deeply shocking. “How would anyone feel? These are horrible things to say. Absolutely no proof,” he remarked.
He criticized Verydarkman for presenting baseless claims without evidence, emphasizing, “All these things are false, basically. So now you have to defend yourself because he who alleges must prove. I’ve gone to court for defamation of character because that’s clearly what this is.”
Falz also clarified recent misreporting, stating that while the court did not mandate a financial settlement, it did rule for the removal of the defamatory video. “Now, recently it was reported that the court has ordered N500 million to be paid, blah, blah, I mean, that’s false. The case of defamation is still very much in court. Yes, we have instituted proceedings for defamation because, of course, that is what this is,” he explained.
He further noted the ongoing nature of the case, mentioning, “However, there’s something called interim applications, which you can do while a substantive case is still ongoing. You can apply to the court for an injunction because this defamation still subsists.”
Falz asserted that the defamatory video remains accessible on Verydarkman’s pages, stating, “The ruling that the court gave was to take this down and desist from any further defamatory remarks pending the determination of this substantive suit. That is what that is.”
