‘I’ve never been depraved in my life’ – Simi addresses online backlash

Nigerian singer Simi has broken her silence following the resurfacing of old tweets that have sparked widespread social media criticism.

The backlash comes amid heightened online scrutiny following Simi’s public stance against rape culture and the ongoing controversy surrounding the rape allegation involving Mirabel.

Some of her old tweets were dug up and shared online, prompting heated discussions and criticism from users.

She emphasised that the tweets, written when she was 23 and hustling her music career while helping out at her mother’s daycare, were innocent reflections of daily life rather than anything perverse.

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She stressed that her words had been twisted to fit false narratives and that she has never been depraved in her life.

She also addressed how her fame now exposes her past actions to broad interpretation, explaining that she never intended to hide her personality or the fact that she was a young woman expressing herself openly.

Simi added that some of her older tweets were being deleted by her team due to the sensitivity for her family, though she had initially been reluctant to remove them.

In her statement, Simi said, “I haven’t been on Twitter today – but someone brought a few of my old tweets to my attention and I can’t not address it. 14 years ago, I was 23, so I was definitely not a child. I’m not here to make excuses because I don’t have anything to make excuses for. What I can’t let anyone do is twist my story to fit false narratives.

“In 2012, I lived and helped out at my mom’s daycare while I was hustling my music. I tweeted everything that happened in my life, as we all did at the time. Kids can be mischievous. If a child did something I found funny, I tweeted about it. Kids are cute and lovable. I want to hug, kiss and cuddle them. I tweet about it. Nothing I tweeted was from perversion.

“I was not famous, so maybe if I was, I would have understood that anything is open to whatever interpretation including being used falsely by a faceless mob. I’ve never been depraved in my life. You can retweet all the tweets in the world about me loudly crushing on people I admired. Or being a cheeky young woman. I wasn’t trying to hide it, because I don’t have anything to hide.

“My team has been deleting some of my tweets because of how sensitive it is for my family. To be honest, I did not want to. I have always spoken against rape and sexual assault even before you knew I existed. It’s not a costume I’m wearing, it’s who I am. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. I’ve never claimed to know everything. I said stop raping women. I stand by it.”

Simi’s statement comes amid heightened scrutiny on social media, including comments from music producer Samklef, who recently called for an apology from her family, asserting that he played a role in her early career foundation.

Her response seeks to clarify her past actions and reaffirm her long-standing stance against sexual assault as the online debate surrounding her continues.