Celebs who don't see eye to eye
Some stars get along like thieves and bricks. Like Tom, the cat, and Jerry, the mouse – they are ever in a spat! CAROLINE NYANGA chronicles some of these feuds, some big, but most pointless.
Ciku Muiruri, the no-nonsense radio presenter behind the dreaded Busted segment where cheating spouses are exposed on air, is a super presenter who minces no words.
The straight shooting Ciku is still furious and has a score to settle with fellow presenter Angela Angwenyi, who, with a smile, watched bouncers rough her up in the full glare of the public during the highly charged Naija Night held at Impala Grounds some weeks ago.
The ongoing drama has little to do with the bouncers who manhandled Ciku as they tried to pave way for the showstopper of the night, D’Banj and his entourage.
Angela, on the other hand needs no introduction. She was in charge of media accreditation that night yet she could only watch and laugh as Ciku got embarrassed on the night of song and dance.
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"I felt someone push me roughly to the side. This is insane. Why would someone do that to me? I came to have a good time and not to be insulted," a perturbed Ciku quipped when Pulse reached out for a comment.
And as expected, Ciku sought to hit back at Angela in her weekly column when she slammed the event’s VIP idea a sham. Her headline read: VIP my **s!
Even though Pulse has not established the genesis of the bad blood between the two female radio presenters, the recent developments between the two leaves a lot to be admired. Was it mere coincidence that recently, Angela left Radio Africa while Ciku moved to the opposite direction?
| Angwenyi(left) and Ciku |
Like a dramatic clip cut out of a Mexican soap opera, the TV and radio girls locked horns on Facebook, exposing each other as husband snatchers — some three times their seniors.
But they are not the only celebrities who have their daggers drawn against each other.
From the endless verbal war between Mombasa-based events organisers Queen Eve and Beyonce to the seasonal media spat between celebrated singers Nyota Ndogo and Nikki, the battle for local showbiz supremacy seems to thrive on jealousy, envy, hate and back stabbing.
From police cells to courtrooms, some of these generated differences have left gruelling bitterness whose impact can be felt all over celebville.
Some like Prince Adio and Ally B; K-Lynn and Ray C; Gaetano and Fareed’s differences could have escaped public eye, but there are those earth moving ones whose mighty have been paparazzo’s hot sell year in year out.
Eve and Beyonce
Far from common belief, the difference between the two Mombasa celebrities has little to do with showbiz rivalry. It stems around lovers and love affairs gone sour in which one party blames the other for their romantic woes. In their bitter rivalry, the two have once in a while called each other nasty names besides employing sideshows tactical spoiler moves every time one party hosts an event.
Recently, Beyonce gave Eve’s Nzumari Awards a wide berth, saying she was too busy organising her own Coastal Music Awards. Apparently, they don’t see eye to eye.
Nyota and Nikki
| Nyota and Nikki |
From a past face-off during a Pulse interview made for the ‘Celeb vs Celeb’ segment, one can easily tell that Nyota Ndogo and Nikki are not birds-of-a-feather. While Nyota was not afraid to tell Nikki off, claiming she usually thrives on attention seeking employing overdone make-up and explicit dressing as a tactic to remain relevant, she slams at Nikki alluding she should sacrifice more time in making her music.
Nikki sheepishly declared that she would never wish to be in Nyota’s shoes under any given circumstances. In fact, at some point, she wouldn’t take any more questions concerning Nyota – implying that she was not worth the topic.
It all started some years ago when the two were pitted against each other in the Best Female category of the Kisima Awards which Nikki won to Nyota’s great condemnation.
Although the two were trying hard to keep the beef under wraps, it might only take the wisdom of a magician to midwife their beef.
Nonini and Jua Cali
Jua Cali (left) and Nonini |
Even as Nonini succeeded in getting immense airplay on various FM stations at a time when genge was nascent, he never left a rising Jua Cali behind. But there was trouble in paradise.
Nonini quit Calif Records opting to record the chartbuster Keroro with producer Musyoka. He later released his popular album Hanyaring Game that saw his popularity grow immensely.
Jua Cali slowly started making headways into showbiz limelight. The release of hit songs like Kamata Dame featuring Pilipili, Kiasi, Kwaheri and Bidii Yangu, among others made him a common fixture in every major gig in the city. Within no time, Jua Cali became the talk of town with many awards, contracts and huge endorsements coming his way. What, however, shocked most fans was that unlike Nonini who always gave him thumbs-up in his shows, Jua Cali did not return the favour.
From then, the two parted ways. They would meet in a concert and snub each other. Although both parties have openly denied having beef with each other, it is obvious that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Beef season continues!
Nameless and Redsan
| Nameless and Redsan |
The two are often branded as the revolutionaries behind the local urban music. They broke into the limelight as musicians affiliated to leading recording stable Ogopa Deejays. They soon became crowd favourites among many local music fans. Nameless was Kapuka. Redsan went ragga.
They both had dreadlocks.
Besides churning out great hits that have won local and international accolades, the two seem to have parted ways since then. Word has it that back then, Wahu (now Nameless’ celebrity wife) — then a dancer — asked Redsan if she could appear in his video as a video vixen. The myth has it that Redsan spared no kind words for Wahu in her desperation as an upcoming artiste. The rest is history.
Mariga and Oliech
Forget the recent drama between the two over captainship of Harambee Stars, the showdown between Kenyan international football players MacDolnald Mariga and Dennis Oliech leaves more than what meets the eye. It is said that both Oliech and Mariga were part of golden Kamukunji High generation. They played for the Nairobi youth team. As they won accolades, their differences emerged and reached boiling point.
Amani and Avril
Her first collabo with Nameless Ninanoki done almost seven years ago propelled her into instant fame. Amani’s success was so tremendous that there was no stopping her.
For a long time, singer Amani enjoyed fame as the only popular female singer from Ogopa music stable. But her reign was interrupted by the entry of Ogopa’s new kid on the block Avril who has not been shy to spell her intention of becoming Kenya’s leading female artiste. With only two songs under her cap, Avril has become a darling of the media and has won many hearts. And what was that vibe about the AY? Is it true Amani was dating the Tanzania singer? Is it true that Avril stole him from Amani?
Eve and Beyonce |
Caroline Mutoko and Kalekye Mumo
For a long time, KISS FM radio presenter Caroline Mutoko was synonymous with the station as its main presenter of the morning breakfast show. She got branded ‘queen of the airwaves’.
But with the entry of Kiss 100 Rushhour presenter Kalekye Mumo, who was Caroline’s own creation, things took a different turn. Like wine, Caroline was getting better with age. And so Kalekye was seen as the ultimate answer to Caroline’s prowess. A story is told of how the two prolific presenters fell out over power struggles just the other day with Kalekye threatening to quit the station. But the woes soon came to an end as mediators intervened. The sea is calm…just for now.
Louis Otieno and Jeff Koinange
Hardly three years ago, Louis Otieno was the man to watch out for. His programme Newsnight that featured on KTN quickly became a hot sell. He was a darling of many. With fame and fortune beckoning, a celebrated Louis was now a brand, a brand that moved to Citizen TV before crossing over to K24. They say the grass is always greener on the other side. But then, has Louis finally got his match?
Jeff Koinange (formerly with CNN), the burly framed eccentric Capital Talk presenter is the face of K24. As much as Louis could be trying to raffle feathers with his new This is Louis show, things are a bit gigantic for him and might be…in a long time.
Debbie Asila and Angela Angwenyi
It’s rumoured that both had their eyes on a loaded bar owner in Westlands who rolls in the celebrated Hummer, which caused some tension between them.
Eve De Souza and Pinky Ghelani
While both were employees at Capital FM, bad blood allegedly brewed when Eve got into a relationship of some sort with Pinky’s brother. Clearly, Eve wasn’t Pinky’s idea of a sister-in-law hence the animosity.
Bobby Mapesa and Nonini
Friction between the two artistes became evident when Bobby came out claiming that Nonini had been using the group P Unit to take him down.
"Nonini knows that I’m his competition and so he is trying to eliminate me by giving my music ideas to P Unit," Bobby lamented, citing his song Tuko Mbele that P Unit borrowed and named Tuko Juu. "I am so bitter. It’s cramping my style, because P Unit do genge — but I don’t."
Nonini distanced himself from the grumbling labelling it as ‘tricks of a dying horse’.
Dj Kaydee and DJ Joe
The two may come out as associates in public but what Pulse spotted on Facebook recently is far from that. Kaydee updated a status condemning software DJs, only for Joe ‘Mfalme’ to defend them, and it went on and on as a lengthened string of name-calling.