Prolific Nollywood actress, and filmmaker, Funke Akinedele, has debunked the accusation of not offering help to her colleague, who was one of the cast of Jenifa’s Diary, Adejumoke Aderounmu, before her sudden death.
Freelanews had earlier reported that Aderounmu, popularly known as “Esther” for her role in the hit series, Jenifa’s Diary, reportedly died during the weekend over an undisclosed ailment.
While reacting to the demise, via the comment session of an Instagram blog post, Funke Akindele wrote, “Sad!!!! @jideawobona I still asked about her. Omg. May her soul rest in peace.”
In response, Aderounmu’s brother, in a series of posts commended Nollywood stars, Rita Dominic and Sotayo Gaga for reaching out to his sister, unlike Funke.
The deceased’s brother added that there was no point in showing love when Funke Akindele failed to do the same when his sister was alive.
However, during an Instagram live session on Tuesday, Funke expressed displeasure over a demeaning comment a netizen made on her page following Jumoke’s death.
Funke said that she asked about Jumoke’s whereabouts and was unaware that she had been sick until the news about her demise.
The actress noted that she also had her trying times, stressing that she got depressed after losing her mother.
She said, “Someone made a comment on my page just now that I will bury my children. What have I done wrong? Jummy was part of Jenifa’s crew. She acted her role in Jenifa’s dairy and industreet and got paid, that was it.
“You know Jenifa’s dairy is on a break and we are not working on the project, so most of the cast, we don’t really see each other.
“So suddenly, I just messaged Jide and asked about Jumoke, and asked him to call her and ask about her wellbeing, and he said she is fine and we should be calling her for jobs.
“So Pascal called me that I should check online that Jumoke’s brother said nobody checked on her, and I said he is grieving and it is not easy to lose someone.
“I lost my mom, nobody knows what I went through, I went through a lot, I was depressed losing my mom, I went through a lot.
“So I reached out to Jumoke’s brother, and nobody told me that your sister was sick. I said I don’t turn a deaf ear to people that are next to me, I give but don’t like making noise about it
“I hate it. I don’t beef with any filmmaker or colleague, I do my things and face where I’m going. The records I have been able to break are by the grace of God. Do not forget I got my trying moments too, what do you want me to do?
“The issue I had during Covid, politics I was backlash and marriage too. Somebody now said you will lose your children, I think that is too much. Yes, I’m very strict and focused; whoever works with me and wants to go can go, and those who want to stay can stay, too.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
