The movie industry does not exist without tales of dispute, competition and rivalry.
It’s either an actor is trying to outshine the other or producers are at loggerhead as to who produces the best movie for the screen.
Sometimes this unhealthy disputes are left in the hands of movie lovers who have their favourite in the industry. Fans end up taking the fight as though they personally know these actors to the point of throwing shades and banter.
One will say, social media gave them room for this but nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham has made netizens to know that the banter began before the era of social media.
Interestingly, Toyin shed a bit of light about the industry fight which according to her shouldn’t exist in the first place.
Toyin who took to her Instagram account, in a long statement wrote “If you guys knew the fierce competition to be number one in those days in the Yoruba industry(I don’t know if that still exists though). The fierce competition created camps, enmity and many professional gossips.
“The number one cause of fight in the industry then was ‘he said, ‘she said’ before the social media era. Dear Nollywood people, let me chip this in, stop tearing the industry down with gossips. You have caused lots of damage with ‘he-said’, ‘she-said’.
“Let me go back to my story. In those days of the Yoruba movie industry @funkejenifaakindele was like number one after the likes of Aunty Bukky and Aunty Faithia. I was the next in line. The competition was much and with many gossips in between , we became persona non grata.”
Toyin went on to narrate how things unfold for her and Funke Akindele, while chipping in advice to young actors.
“She moved on to the English industry. I became number one before moving on too (A word of advice to young actors of today, no one will be number one forever. It doesn’t mean you fall down the pecking order, it might just be that you move on to bigger things. Erora tele bashubashu. You don’t own the industry, the industry is bigger than you). In the English industry, Aunty Funke and I continued the rivalry sort of. I pitted our fans against each other. We are two competitive Virgo women, we love to win and sometimes in that process, we splash dirt and mud”, she said.
The actress who has broken the box office record before went on to explain how she has realised that one “can compete without being negatively competitive”.
While concluding her statement she said words of prayer for Funke Akindele and praised her for showing women “what is possible”.
Toyin said “But with time, age, and more wisdom, I have realized we can compete without being negatively competitive. Aunty Funke I celebrate you for showing us what is possible.
“You are a winner. You sold over 1B, You made it possible for other women to dream. You ran us street with that 1B o, this year, many of us will move to 1B and we pray God makes you bigger. Thank you for making great moves and selling them like your life depends on it. You taught other women to hustle harder.
“I had set record in box office record, Aunty came and beat them, today I am happy because she has challenged me to set higher goals. Sis, let’s compliment each other even in competition at the box office. I owe you one post in December( only 1 o, I need to sell market…lol). I pray that God will make all your dreams come true. I admire you and wish you all the best. With Love, T!”
She had a beautiful picture of the actress, Funke Akindele to back up her post.