Will Shatta Wale Apologise Or Cough Up GH¢10 Million?.

Contrary to views held by many, I do not think that anybody hates Shatta Wale for whatever reason, but when he continuously keeps insulting people left, right and centre, it’s only prudent that, the people will advise themselves. And that is exactly what is happening to him currently.

For the record, I think he hates himself, if not; he will not be unnecessarily controversial and decide to insult everyone just like that. Depending on where you belong, he may have a point, yes, but always opting to denigrate people to get your message across, is and should not be the way to go.

The last time I wrote about him in a piece titled Slowdown Shatta Wale, Slowdown, I was met with insults by the artiste and his fans on Pluzz FM’s Entertainment Morning Show hosted by Samuel Baah.

In the said article, I mentioned the fact that, his too many releases of songs via Facebook almost every week was too much. I thought he needed to give the songs the chance to become hits and also allow his fans to fully enjoy them before releasing subsequent ones.That piece of advice was negatively misconstrued.

Another thing I mentioned in the article was his constant use of foul language in his songs and interviews. That was also misinterpreted. And now, his use of offensive words is the reason why he will be appearing in court.

I believe that, in the face of the current economic hardship in Ghana, I’m very certain that, if any of us is given the opportunity to offer an apology for defaming an individual or a company needlessly in lieu of getting sued for GH¢10 Million, we would gladly jump at the opportunity and do what is expected of us and end the possible law suit. This, I can bet on!

Even if the person being slapped with the law suit is very rich, I do not think he/she would want to just part with such a whopping amount when a simple apology can make sleeping dogs lie.

On Monday, October 20 ( a week from today), self acclaimed Dancehall King and brand ambassador of Guinness Made of Black campaign, Shatta Wale, would be in court to answer charges of defamation filed against him by the owners of Charterhouse, a private company.

Shatta, who is the 2014 Artiste of the Year of the annual Vodafone Ghana Music Awards(VGMA) interestingly organised by Charterhouse, is being sued by the event production house for defaming them via statements he made in videos he recorded and released via his Facebook page.

I will not try to repeat the things he said but I guess the reason why he is being dragged to the law courts says it all. The words cannot be repeated here. I will not be a party to sharing those words. Never!

However, what he wanted to get across but ended up attacking personalities instead was that, he alleged in the said videos that, Mr Iyiola Ayoade, CEO of Chaterhouse, operators of GhOne Television, had instructed that, his, (Shatta Wale) videos should not be aired on the station even though his fans had sent text messages to an advertised short code to request for the videos.

The above appears like a genuine concern from the musician but there was no sense at all in attacking the personality of Mr Ayoade. His remarks in the videos are utterly disappointing and unprofessional. The name of the game is evidence, especially as the case is going to court.

Can he produce evidence that, his fans requested for his videos to be played and they were ignored? Or is he going to rely on a supposed chat between a fan and an employee of GhOne?

Granted Mr Ayoade truly asked his employees not to play Shatta Wale’s videos on the channel; has he not got the right to do so as the owner of the station? I do not think that, all requested videos or songs get played all the time on any programme anywhere in the world.

It is not a secret that Shatta Wale and his manager have come out to say that, they don’t need the media. And the last time I checked, GhOne is not a football club, neither is it a ‘susu’ collecting entity. GhOne is part of the media.

And since GhOne is a media house, why then do you complain when a media house that you do not need blacklists you on their channel?

I do not have an opinion on whether it’s wrong or otherwise for GhOne to stop playing Shatta Wale’s videos but one thing I know for sure and believe Bulldog, his manager, knows is that, a media house is under no obligation to play any video from any musician.

They have the right to decide which videos they want to play. That is why most stations charge money before they air music videos. Even though some stations air some particular videos, other stations refuse to air them for various reasons.

I’m in no way saying that is a good practice but, we shouldn’t forget the fact that, these stations have their policies which they adhere to.

At this juncture, I believe talking plenty would not help. I strongly believe that, Mr Ayoade, GhOne and Charterhouse are not interested in the money; all they want is a simple apology.

So I think the wise thing to do now is to apologise and let’s move on.

Source: Ebenezer Anangfio.