Nigerian rapper and actor Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding social media personality VeryDarkMan, who made serious allegations against him and his father, renowned lawyer Femi Falana.
During an interview on the Afrobeat podcast, Falz spoke about the accusations, which claimed that he and his father had manipulated justice and bribed officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The controversy began on September 24, 2024, when VeryDarkMan released a viral audio clip in which social media star Bobrisky (Idris Okuneye) alleged he had bribed officials to dismiss money laundering charges against him. Bobrisky also insinuated that Falz and his father had helped facilitate this.
The allegations sparked widespread criticism of Falz, who quickly responded by giving VeryDarkMan a 24-hour ultimatum to retract his statements.
In the podcast, Falz expressed his frustration over the baseless claims, saying, “One day, [VeryDarkMan] thought it wise to sit down, turn on his ring light, and accuse my dad and me of conspiring with certain individuals to manipulate justice and bribe the EFCC. He even added that the reason I did this is because of a homosexual relationship with Bobrisky. How could anyone feel good about that? These are terrible things to say without any evidence.”
In response, Falz and his father pursued legal action. On October 14, 2024, a Lagos State High Court ordered VeryDarkMan to remove all defamatory content related to Falz and his father from his social media platforms, stop making further defamatory statements, and issue an apology across all platforms where the allegations had been shared.
Speaking about the legal case, Falz explained, “I filed for defamation of character because that’s exactly what this is. The case is still ongoing, and the court has ordered him to take down the defamatory video and refrain from making further defamatory remarks while the case is being resolved.”
Falz clarified that although defamation can have criminal consequences, he chose not to pursue that route. “He could have been arrested, but I didn’t want to go down that path. Now, they’re trying to paint my family as oppressors because of our legal resources. I don’t go looking for trouble.”
Falz also dismissed claims that VeryDarkMan had issued a genuine apology. “He posted something on his Instagram story, but it wasn’t an apology. The defamatory video is still up on his page,” he said.
The legal proceedings are still underway, and Falz emphasized that the full truth will be revealed in court. "Since he’s intent on litigation, the rest of the explanation will happen in court,” he concluded.
