Days ago Nigerians and movie lovers were stunned when actor, controverial actor, Uche Maduagwu, disclosed that Nollywood star, Jim Iyke, paid him N4.8m to make a publicity stunt for the promotion of the latter’s movie, ‘Bad Comments’.
The video clip showing Iyke battering up Maduagwu went viral online after the latter apparently asked Iyke to reveal the source of his income.
In an interview with Saturday Beats, Maduagwu stated that he allowed Iyke to ‘beat’ him because it was a business transaction. He said, “He (Iyke) paid; it wasn’t free. He is like a big brother to me and he reached out to me. He is someone I have always respected in the industry. He saw that I was a leading brand influencer and he tapped into it. It was more of business.”
Asked how he felt when people criticised him for calling out Iyke online and subsequently being beaten by him, Maduagwu said, “All I did was smile because I knew I had made money. The concept was to get people talking. The movie is a world-class one. I believe it would be talked about for a long time because it’s addressing the consciousness of people on social media. For as long as there is social media, I believe the movie would always be relevant. The story behind that movie was what ‘sold it’.
“People are very frustrated in this country and they need someone they can use as scapegoat. If one is used as a scapegoat and it makes people feel good, then I would also feel good. In a way, I am even doing them (trolls) a favour. I am healing the world. I don’t let it get to me because it is just social media. That is not the real world.”
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