Popular Nigerian actress and director, Funke Akindele has left her fans excited after joining the viral “Esther” challenge.
The “Esther” challenge, which has gone viral, has the actress showing off images from her modest roots.
In the caption, Funke wrote:
“😂😂😂😂😂 I no BLISH O!! Na trend on tik tok o!! Never despise the days of little beginnings.”
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machalazio stated: “You wey don establish since you where broke ❤️😢”mfoniso_bassey1 said: “Yours will always be the best pick on the trend ….kwantinue to Establish 🥵💋❣️ Hot mama 🙌”temmy_baiby wrote: “Esther maintained the melanin skin! 😍”wendysweet noted: “You’re one person i respect so much.. from the days of “I need to know”.. your skin tone has not changed one bit, except for the glow 😍😍.. thank you for not turning to coke and Fanta ❤️.”_therealope penned: “Your own Esther na Esther glow up oo mama 😍”theibukunoluwa said: “Black don’t crack🔥❤”
In other news, Singer Ewa Cole has sued filmmaker Funke Akindele and music executive JJC Skillz for copyright violations of her songs in the film “She Must Be Obeyed.”SceneOne Entertainment produces “SHE Must Be Obeyed,” which was co-directed by Funke Akindele and her ex-husband JJC Skillz.
Mike Ezuronye, Patience Ozokwo, Rachael Okonkwo, Waje, Abdulateef Adedimeji, Nancy Isime, Veeiye, and Akah Nnani were among the cast members of the five-part series that received widespread notice and went viral.
Ewa Cole, through her attorney Adewale Williams, claimed ownership of the rights to “Opoor” and “Bhad Garl,” two of the songs purportedly sampled in “SHE Must Be Obeyed,” in a lawsuit heard by the Federal High Court of Lagos.
The defendants in this action are Tony Ugiagbe (Topage), Waje, Veeiye, Amazon Web Services Nigeria Ltd. (BoomPlay), Amazon Web Services Inc., and Apple Inc.
Ewa Cole stated that Waje and Veeiye duplicated “Bhad Gyal” and “Opoor” when Topage, the song producer, informed her that her songs had been rejected.
She stated that the songs were copied without “permission or approval” and that she was not given any credit.
“Sometime in June 2021, Our Client was contacted by one Mr Fony a.k.a Tony Age to produce soundtracks for the movie “She Must Be Obeyed” series being produced by Scene One production, Funke Akindele and her crew at that material time. The movie starred several celebrities like Veeiye (as Tito); Waje (as X-cite)}; Shaffy Belfo as Iya Siyanbola, amongst others,” the petition reads.
“Our brief revealed that after writing and recording the two songs, “Bhad Gyal” and “OPOOR” in a music studio with the aid of Mr. Tony a.k.a Tony Age (who was working with the “She Muse Be Obeyed” crew as that time), she handed over the tracks to him with the understanding that Funke Akindele and her crew will reach out to her for payments and recognition.
“After weeks of waiting, Our Client received the sad news that her songs had been rejected and would no longer be deployed in the production of the series only for Our Client to shockingly discover thereafter that she has been lied to and scammed, and that her songs were REPRODUCED by Waje and Veeiye and deployed for the production of the said movie without Our Client’s permission or approval or any credit to her. The “Bhad Gyal’ song was mimed by Waje while on stage in the movie, whilst the OPOOR song ran through the background of the entirety of the series.
“The “She Must Be Obeyed” series released in September 2023 and premiered by Amazon Prime Video is now been watched around the globe and generating several revenues for Amazon, Apple Music, BoomPlay, Funke Akindele, and her crew without even the least recognition of Our Client as the author of those songs.”
Ewa Cole also seeks N300 million in damages for what she considers a labor violation.
She requested that the court grant a permanent order barring the defendants from copyrighting, performing, or distributing her musical works.
She also asked the court to award the defendants 45% of all profits from the two songs’ usage, performance, recording, and retail sales.
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