Afrobeats singer Simi has responded to the controversy surrounding her resurfaced 2012 tweets, stating that the posts were misinterpreted and used to construct a misleading narrative.
The old tweets recently resurfaced, prompting criticism and intense debate on social media, particularly in light of her outspoken position against rape culture and the ongoing discussions surrounding the Mirabel rape allegation.
In a post shared on Sunday night, Simi maintained that she has consistently spoken against sexual assault. She explained that the tweets in question were not inappropriate, but rather innocent descriptions of her interactions with children at the daycare facility.
She acknowledged that she is not without flaws, but stressed that she should not be harshly judged for comments made in her youth while expressing herself freely.
Simi wrote, “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.
“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.
“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.
“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 stated that her team has been deleting some of the tweets due to sensitivity concerns, particularly considering her family’s feelings.
The controversy has sparked a broader debate on social media, with some users calling for Simi to be more responsible with her words, while others have rallied behind her, defending her right to express herself.