Funke Akindele: Toyo baby, and 2 others who have called the actress out

Funke Akindele arrived on the Nollywood scene when she starred in the sitcom I Need to Know from 1998 to 2002, and in 2009, she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She further rose to fame for her role in the movie titled Jenifa, which earned her the nickname Jenifa.

Funke Akindele is a household name in the movie industry with a brand image that continues to support other upcoming actors and actresses.

However, there has been bad press about the actress/producer's "driver" personality and described as a lousy boss and being called out several times by upcoming actresses, writers and other creatives.

Poor pay, emotional abuse and miscredit are allegations levelled against the award-winning actress and producer.

Although Funke Akindele had never responded to these allegations, these accusations have left fans wondering if the Nollywood actress is indeed guilty.

Olayode Juliana, aka Toyo baby, and two others are among the list of individuals that have publicly aired their grievances against Funke Akindele.

Here's all the tea of what transpired between Nollywood actress Funke Akindele and these creatives, according to the reports and their side of the story.

 What happened between Toyo Baby and Jenifa?

Nollywood actress Olayode Juliana, aka  Toyo Baby, for her role in Jenifa's diary, is one of the upcoming actresses Funke Akindele took under her wing.

They both had a smooth work and personal relationship until 2017.

According to reports and several sources, Funke Akindele removed Toyo's baby from the series because she demanded more pay.

Akindele, via her production manager and younger sister Abimbola, pays actors between N3,000 and N150,000 (per episode/season of the show), depending on their role.

At the time, fans of the "Jenifa's diary show" lashed out at Toyo baby, calling her "proud" and "ingrate".

However, in 2018, Toyo baby says people who do not understand the relationship she had with her former employer should not tag her as a proud person.

In a post on her website, the actress best known for her role in Jenifa’s Diary, TV series produced by Funke Akindele-Bello, said she left the series in May 2016 after she had a misunderstanding with Funke Akindele.

Toyo baby said she doubled as a maid and actress for Funke Akindele. She added that she loved and respected " Aunty Funke ''but was still flying a bike as an actress and earning a miserly N3k per episode.

This did not go down well with Funke Akindele, who felt that Toyo's baby was being ungrateful despite her rise to fame through the "Jenifa's Diary" show.

In a cryptic message Funke Akindele shared on Instagram, Jenifa’s Diary star said she would not stop making stars out of individuals even if those she helped do not appreciate it.

 Cassandra Owolabi accuses Funke Akindele of slave-like treatment

During the year of the pandemic and consequent lockdown, screenwriter Cassandra Owolabi aka Kassie accused Mrs Akindele of physical and emotional abuse.

In a now-deleted video shared on social media, Kassie recounted her ordeals and that of others at the hand of the actress.

According to Kassie, the film star spoke to her staff harshly, and she once witnessed Funke Akindele slap a team member the way a mother would hit her child.

Kassie reiterated that working for Akindele was like enslavement as they were denied their sleep, speech and movement, yet expected to keep working.

The young screenwriter added that she wrote five seasons (season 11 to 15) of Funke Akindele’s popular comedy series, Jenifa’s Diaries but never received credit.

Actress Funke Akindele has not made any comments regarding this issue as of the time of this report.

 Kolade Morakinyo calls out Funke Akindele JJC Skillz over AMVCA miscrediting

Recently, A list film score composer, Kolade Morakinyo, called out filmmaking couple Funke Akindele-Bello and JJC Skillz for not crediting him for the sound editing and design of their hit film 'Omo Ghetto: The Saga'.

Taking to his Twitter, Morakinyo shared a series of threads.  Morakinyo said he was shocked when the AMVCA released nominations, but he got no credits for the sound design.

"3 days ago, the AMVCA announced its nominees, and to my utter shock, my name wasn’t there. I discovered I’d been replaced with someone I later learnt only did the film score (read as the soundtrack)."

According to Morakinyo, the power couple did not give him credit for the sound design after many sleepless nights. He said he reached out to JJC Skillz about it, who apologised and claimed he had sent out an email to rectify the error. 

"I immediately reached out to JJC, and he claimed this was an oversight and sent his apologies. He also claimed he’d sent an email to AMVCA to rectify this error."

The Bellos are yet to respond to these allegations at the moment.