Controversial Nigerian artist Speed Darlington has apologised to his followers following the reaction over a viral video in which he appeared to admit to sleeping with a 15-year-old virgin girl.
In the original footage, which is now widely reviled on social media, the artist revealed in disturbing detail a decade-old experience with a teenage girl, eliciting immediate indignation and calls for legal action.
However, in a follow-up video released on his Instagram page on Wednesday, Speed Darlington claimed the viral narrative was nothing more than a marketing gimmick designed to promote his most recent music release.
He also issued an apology to his fans and anyone who found the video insulting.
‘’All my followers are pissed off about the video I recorded in which I spoke about me sleeping with a 15-year-old. I am an artist. I need controversy to eat. If you are not trending, you are not getting booked. Simple! Nobody is booking something that is not trending.
“I have a new song now. The song is talking about f#ck this, f#ck that. This is my genre. I do not perform Christian music. When I dropped my song, I needed f#ck contents to push it. That is what I was doing. Don’t give it more like than it is supposed to have.
“If any of you are offended, it’s alright. Apologies,” he said.
It was gathered on Tuesday that Speed Darlington was criticised following a viral Instagram Live video in which he seemingly admitted to defiling a 15-year-old girl.
Speed Darlington’s Igbo-narrated incident drew attention from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.
In 2022, he shared an Instagram Live of an altercation with a neighbour who accused him of getting too close to a 16-year-old girl.
The singer filmed two aggrieved women outside his apartment while he walked around his living room holding a knife to threaten them, saying, “They continually invade my privacy, opening my window, opening my curtain. I’m alone; two people are attacking me.”
One of the women, also filming him, was heard saying, “You’ve met your match. Speed comes outside. I will deal with you; I will deal with you. Why are you running? Continue your live video; let them know you’re a rapist. You want to start messaging a 16-year-old girl, a house girl. Open this door; come out.”
