It is common
knowledge that sex sells; the commercial demand for nude images of celebrities
have been known to exist for a very long time. In the western world, magazines
such as Playboy are known to offer famous women huge sums of money to appear
nude on its cover and other inner pages.
The crave for
the demand of images of nude celebrities is even more aggressive with down
market pornographic magazines searching far and wide for such images which are
taken mostly without the consent of the celebrity in question.
Images and
other materials of nude celebrities fall into five main categories such as film
screenshots, paparazzi photographs, nude photo shoots, stolen private materials
and fake or doctored photos.
In many
nations, privacy law and personality rights can lead to civil action against
organizations that publish photos of nude celebrities without a model release,
and this restricts the availability of such photos through the print media.
In some
cases, when the depicted person is young and the photo is an actual photo, nude
media of celebrities may fall under the purview of child pornography laws, a
legal regime with harsh penalties for distribution. When the photos are faked
or doctored, the media is classified as simulated pornography.
But on the
other hand, the internet has made it difficulty to identify offenders and
applying court sanction thereby making the circulation of such photographs much
less risky. Such photographs circulate through many online photo distribution
channels such as internet forums, and commercial operators often in countries
beyond the reach of courts thereby rendering copyright restrictions helpless.
In this part
of the world, such privacy laws and personality rights are rarely being
exercised and that has caught many a celebrity unaware.
The earliest and
one of the most celebrated cases of published nude photo shoots involved
actress and former contestant of the Gulder Ultimate Search reality TV show,
Anita Hogan.
Some years
back, the actress was involved in nude photo scandal that made the front page
of a Lagos
Subsequently,
Nollywood producers were reluctant to feature the actress for fear of negative
reactions from movie buffs and the general public.
But the
actress said the whole thing was a mere set up by some people who demanded
money from her but she refused to pay, and circulating the nude pictures was
their idea of getting even with her.
Mo’Hit’s
soulful crooner, Wande Coal became a trending topic on twitter for all the
wrong reasons when a purported nude picture of the artiste began to circulate
on social media some years ago. A few months before that, rumours made the
rounds that the artiste was being treated in a psychiatric hospital.
For acting in
the movie entitled ‘Dirty Secret’ Nollywood star, Tonto Dikeh, incurred the
wrath of her fans. Another Nigerian actor, the late Muna Obiekwe also starred
in the movie which saw the actress going semi-nude exposing parts never seen
before in any Nigerian movie.
But the
actress replied disgruntled fans on twitter calling them ‘pretenders’: “Why
would we enjoy seeing nudity in Hollywood? It’s a profession people, grow up. I
am all out with my job and I hate fake tradition. I have got a mind and heart
my profession requires.” She tweeted.
Another
actress, in the person of Empress Njamah was also recently caught up in the web
when her nude pictures were being circulated on the internet. Empress
vehemently came out to deny the nude pictures being circulated saying she was
not the one on it.
Starboy sensation, and EME Record’s cash cow, Wizkid was also enmeshed in the in the x-rated saga when a purported sex tape of him making love to an older woman went viral on social media some time ago.
In a swift response, the head honcho of EME, Banky W took to his twitter page to set the record straight tweeting that the purported sex tape was not Wizkid.
Fuji star Obesere is still recovering from the rape scandal that almost ruined his career about a year ago. The scandal came to many Fuji fans and followers as a shock considering the fact that Obesere had been known as a scandal and controversy free musician.
After being accused of rape by his lover Olanike Olaiya, Obesere had to prove his innocence to the police, the law, his fans, his family and the general public.
The singer, however, insisted he was innocent, a claim which was fortunately verified by police investigations.
“As far as we’re concerned, and based on the investigations carried out so far on the matter, most of the allegations by Obesere’s accuser, Olanike Olaiya, were fabricated. Although, they both admitted having carnal knowledge of each other, there was absolutely nothing to show that Nike was raped as she claimed” Lagos State Police Command Spokesperson Ngozi Braide confirmed at the time of the scandal.
Scores fans were also stunned when a sex tape of former Project Fame winner Chidinma look-alike leaked on the internet in 2013. But the popular sentiment expressed on social media and on popular entertainment websites at the time was ‘the girl in the video cannot be Chidinma’.
In a later interview with rapper Illbliss, who is a friend and mentor of the singer, revealed that the sex tape scandal brought her tears.
“All she did was cry her eyes out, saying ‘I’m only a small girl; I’ve not wronged anybody, why will anyone do this to me?’ I told her that we will speak when we want to and it will not be to defend the sex tape issue but to communicate her success; and indeed it worked” Illbliss revealed.
As bad as these occurrences may seem, there are some critics who feel some of the cases mentioned above may actually be stunts pulled-off by some faceless minders in order to sure up the popularity of the celebrities in question with the attendant buzz and frenzy that such cases attract. Afterall, sex sells…
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