Alleged sexual harassment: Mo Bimpe noticed me first, says Yomi Fabiyi

By Ekaete Bassey

Nollywood actor and movie producer, Yomi Fabiyi has stated his colleague, Bimpe Oyebade aka Mo Bimpe, was actually the one who sparked up the sexual attraction between them.

He refuted allegations of sexual harassment she levelled against him.

Mo Bimpe had taken a swipe at Yomi Fabiyi, describing him as a bully.

The actress made this known while reacting to Fabiyi’s new film, ‘Oko Iyabo.’

She expressed shock over Fabiyi’s decision to release the movie saying “I am so ashamed, how on earth can somebody do this, sigh!”

Mo Bimpe went on to narrate how the actor almost frustrated her out of the movie industry with his constant sexual advances and later threats.

“I’m aware, I just decided to always ignore. The major reason is because I didn’t make myself available for his sexual needs despite how much he tried but doing this to a child is just too much,” she wrote.

However, Fabiyi in an interview with Sunday Scoop, refuted the actresses’ claims, adding she was the one who wronged him instead.

According to the actor, Mo Bimpe approached him not as an actress but a fan who he decided to encourage to turn out a great movie star.

He said: “How did she get a major role in one of my movies? She never came to me to learn about movies; she did not do any auditions. I had already concluded my audition. She came to me as a fan and I decided to encourage her.

While expressing gratitude to God the actress didn’t claim he forced himself on her at any point, Fabiyi said he had the right to feel sexually attracted to anyone as he’s an adult

Fabiyi accused Mo Bimpe of having a great sense of entitlement, which made her feel she could always expressly appear on any of his movies.

He said: “She knows what she did that made me change towards her. I am an adult and I am free to be sexually attracted to anybody. At least, I am thankful to God that she never said I forced her. There is nothing that says that she has automatic roles (in my movies). I do not know the kind of entitlement she has to think she can always feature in my movies. I will take the time to explain what she did.

“The first thing she did that made me change towards her was that I brought her into the industry in 2015 and on the last day of the movie shoot in 2015, she left and I did not set my eyes on her until January 2019.

“In between that, she had shot three movies. I do not know the kind of relationship she built with my sponsor, production manager and cinematographer. All I just heard was that she was planning a production behind me. What an audacity”

READ ALSO: Why I produced ‘Oko Iyabo’, by Yomi Fabiyi

“I brought her into the industry because I wanted her to be great and known. I wanted her to have a career, so, why was she cutting corners? At the end of day, she called to tell me that she had a job for me. I told her that the person she gave the job, she knew him through me because he was my production manager. That was why I cut that person off from my production forever.”

“She hijacked all my ‘backbones’ without consulting me. If she had asked me, I would not have stopped her. Why are you stealing what is yours? Several other things transpired but she can continue to tie it around the fact that she did not give in to my sexual advances.”

Meanwhile, Fabiyi challenged Mo Bimpe to deny ever making the first sexual advances at him. While adding she was the first to notice him sexually and not him.

He added; “Ask her if she made sexual advances to me and not vice versa. I did not notice her first. She was the one that noticed me. Besides, if we did make advances at each other, we are both adults. The most important thing is that there was no force. Do not make it look like because I am an actor, I do not have a right to have emotions or sexual feelings.

Furthermore, the actor emphasized sexual attraction was different from sexual harassment.

Fabiyi said; “Sexual attraction is different from sexual harassment. We need to educate these young people. We are talking about sexual harassment and she is talking about ‘toasting’. Is that not silly?”