Nigerian singer, Simi clarifies old tweet amid X backlash

By Oluwarantimi Oludase

Nigerian singer and songwriter Simisola Kosoko, popularly known as Simi, has addressed the scrutiny around her old tweets on popular microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), amid the numerous public ridicule.

The ‘Joromi’ crooner has been trending on X for the wrong reasons, as netizens began digging out her old tweets which suggested perversion with kids in her mum’s daycare, and her loud crush and obsession with American rapper, J. Cole, following her stance against raping women in response to the allegations made by Tiktoker Mirabel.

Amid the numerous backlash, the wife of Adekunle Gold took to her X handle, stating that she was informed of her old tweets and has no choice than to explain. She shared that those tweets were made at the age of 23, and she has no reason to make excuses for them because there’s nothing to make excuses for.

She revealed that the reason behind her clarification is to control the incessant peddling and interpretation of her tweets to suit public narratives.

“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.”

Simi revealed that in 2021, she worked in her mum’s daycare, and was tweeting everything that happened in her life. Noting how kids can be mischievous, she explained that her tweets were made with such views, and not from perversion.

“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.”

According to her, many of those tweets she made have been interpreted and used falsely by a ‘faceless mob’. Standing strong on her point, she emphasized that she has never been “depraved,” urging them to keep retweeting her previous obsession and loud crush on people she admired.

“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 admire/d. Or being a cheeky young woman. I wasn’t trying to hide it, because I don’t have anything to hide.”

Explaining the reason behind the deletion of some of those tweets, Simi stated that it was done by her team due to the sensitive nature of it for her family. Stating that she had no reason to delete them, she emphasized that her stance has always been strong against “rape and sexual assault” before fame. She further reaffirmed her stance over rape, stressing that the raping of women should be stopped.

“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.”