Tales of love gone sour: D’banj and Don Jazzy; Ubi Franklin And Emma Nyra

It is a common saying in the political terrain that there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

With recent happenings in the entertainment industry, it seems the above phrase has also found truism in the world of art.

It is not unusual to find alliances and cliques formed between entertainers in various sectors of the industry such as in Nollywood, music, and comedy. What is however puzzling to observers is how quickly these friendships sometimes fall apart. It makes one question: was there ever any substance to the associations in the first place?

Some of these crumbled relationships start out as fairytale romances which the parties involved shout about from the high heavens, and in the end, they also hate themselves as passionately as they once loved. They do not hesitate to wash their dirty linens in public, and no detail, no matter how dirty or gory, is spared.

We hereby present to you some of the most celebrated relationships in the Nigerian entertainment industry which have crumbled like packs of badly arranged cards. Enjoy…

In the history of the Nigerian music industry, the union between singer, D'banj and music producer, Don Jazzy of the defunct Mo'hits Records will be remembered as one of the most enduring and fruitful. For the eight years that their relationship blossomed, the music duo churned out countless hit tracks that were enjoyed around the world. However, their affair came to a bitter end in 2012 when they went their separate ways. According to reports, D'banj was interested in taking his career to the global level which he believed the time was ripe for considering his relationship with Kanye West and his G.O.O.D Music label, while Don Jazzy believed that it was better to be a big fish in a small pond, than to be a small fish in an ocean where they could easily be swallowed up.

In leaked e-mails that circulated shortly after the break-up, D'banj and Don Jazzy traded words freely. At a point, Don Jazzy even stated that D'banj should be responsible for clearing the company's debt profile. In one of the e-mails, the talented beat-maker wrote, 'That me (I am) giving him (D'banj) my share of the catalogue does not and will never include him having the right to stop them (the artistes) from performing the songs or give him the right to claim any money for live performances of these songs. And any loans or debt owed by Mo'Hits records as at today will be cleared by Mr D'banj as I am clearly not aware of any…'

Ubi Franklin And Emma Nyra

Co-Founder of MMMG Record Label, Ubi Franklin, once claimed that his relationship with one of his artistes, Emma Nyra was purely business-like in nature, but not many believed him. Those in the know have repeatedly stated that the duo were in a love relationship from the start, and that this was what prompted

Ubi signing Emma to his label in the first place.

However, things came to a head recently when Ubi Franklin announced his engagement to actress, Lilian Esoro, and Emma Nyra left the label shortly after. Then, the veils came off and both had to come clean.

Even though Emma still denied that she was ever in love with Ubi, she claimed in an interview with Vanguard Newspapers that Ubi had terrorised her for years. In her words, 'Ubi and I never dated. Rather he terrorised me for years. He abused me and other members of the label with physical and verbal force.