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A night that had promised lots of afun turned into a debacle and fodder for online gossip, with Tanzanian star Diamond Platnumz at the center of the melee.
The singer who was to headline the Furaha city event over the weekend did not perform with accusations and finger pointing as entertainment heavyweights traded barbs online.
Willy Paul accused Diamond Platnumz security of harassing him and his crew when he was scheduled to go on stage, with Diamond team saying the organizers couldn’t handle the call times of other artists, which led to fights backstage.
The star studded event, which saw the likes of Femi One, Mejja, Willy Paul, and Khaligraph Jones from Kenya; and Zuchu and Rayvanny from Tanzania, left many dejected as the bongo flavor heartthrob failed to go on stage over what his management cited as security reasons.
The festival, held at the Nairobi Polo Club Grounds had started well, before Kenyan singer Willy Paul allegedly refused to honour his allocated time.
This led to chaos with netizens siding with Pozze. Other Kenyan celebrities waded into the matter, with many accusing event organisers of giving local acts the short end of the stick.
Event organiser Willis Raburu, who had a hard time cooling things down backstage, took to social media to share his side of the story, accusing Diamond and his team of creating bottlenecks and unrealistic demands.
Diamond faulted
“We deeply regret to announce that Diamond Platnumz did not perform at the Furaha City Festival as scheduled. As organisers, we made every effort to accommodate him and his team, ensuring that all plans and contingencies were in place for a seamless experience. Despite our best efforts, his team’s behaviour and demands proved regrettable and unnecessarily overbearing,” the statement read.
The Komasava hitmaker took to social media accusing Willy Paul of causing a fuss for showbiz purposes, something he has been keen to avoid.
Responding to Eric Omondi’s post about foreign artistes disrespecting Kenyans, Diamond said success does not come from holding grudges against others, but from one’s effort.
“You are one of the best examples. You have come to Tanzania over 10 times to headline shows and you have always been warmly received. You never heard stand-up comedians being hostile towards you or complaining about being ‘oppressed’, nor were there campaigns like ‘We want 75 per cent, Tanzanian comedians’,” he posted. [Manuel Ntoyai]
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