Nigerian singer Simi has responded to criticism after several of her old tweets resurfaced online, igniting heated conversations across social media amid ongoing discussions about rape culture.
The controversy erupted after screenshots of posts she made over a decade ago were recirculated by users, who questioned the context of some of her remarks about children. The backlash intensified as the singer has recently been vocal in condemning rape culture and sexual violence, prompting some critics to accuse her of hypocrisy.
Breaking her silence in a detailed statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), Simi said she felt compelled to address the situation after being alerted to the resurfaced tweets.
“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.
The singer explained that the tweets were made 14 years ago when she was 23 years old. At the time, she said, she was living with her mother and assisting at her mother’s daycare centre while working hard to grow her music career.
“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,” she stated.
According to Simi, her posts were innocent reflections of daily life and were never intended to carry any inappropriate meaning. She stressed that comments describing children as “cute and lovable” or expressing a desire to “hug, kiss and cuddle them” were expressions of affection that have now been taken out of context.
“What I can’t let anyone do is twist my story to fit false narratives… Nothing I tweeted was from perversion. I’ve never been depraved in my life,” she said.
The Duduke crooner acknowledged that her celebrity status has subjected her past online activity to intense scrutiny, noting that she was not a public figure at the time she made the posts.
“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,” she added.
Simi also revealed that members of her team have begun deleting some of the old tweets due to the sensitivity of the issue and its impact on her family, although she admitted she was initially reluctant to remove them.
“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 disclosed.
Reaffirming her position, the singer maintained that her stance against rape and sexual assault is genuine and long-standing.
“I have always spoken against rape and sexual assault even before you knew I existed… I said stop raping women. I stand by it,” she concluded.