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Nigerian singer Simi has responded to social media backlash following the resurfacing of her old posts, causing an online debate.
Simi’s old tweets, some of which were written in 2012 when Simi was reportedly 23 and helping at her mother’s daycare while pursuing her music career, have gone viral in recent days.
In one 2012 post, she wrote, “David has a crush on me. He kips comn close; actin lik he wana lock lips n den he puts his head on my lap. Shd I giv him a chance? P.S: Hes 4.”
In another tweet from the same year, she wrote: “Why this 4yr old boy tryna put hand inside ma shet????? Ogbeni wash it oh!”
Some users questioned the content, linking it to broader discussions about rape culture and an ongoing allegation involving Mirabel, which has also caused huge attention on social media.
Reacting to the backlash, Simi tweeted on Sunday that she wrote these posts 14 years ago, when she was 23, while helping at her mother’s daycare and trying to start her music career.
“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,” she wrote.
Reacting to the paedophilia allegations, she added, “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 explained that she frequently shared aspects of her daily life at the time, including experiences at the daycare.
“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,” she said.
She stated, “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.”
She also disclosed that some of the older posts were being removed.
“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,” she said.
Simi added, “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.”
