Controversial online personality Darlington Okoye, popularly known as Speed Darlington, has denied allegations of having sex with a minor, claiming his viral confession was merely a publicity stunt to promote his new music.
The artist sparked outrage after stating in a video that he slept with a 15-year-old girl at an unnamed hotel and gave her ₦2,000 afterward. Celebrities, including Aproko Doctor, and social media users called for his arrest, prompting an investigation by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency.
The agency confirmed awareness of the video, stating: “The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency is aware of the disturbing video currently circulating online, in which a popular entertainer allegedly admits to engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor.”
In a new video posted on Wednesday, Speed Darlington backtracked, saying: “I guess fans, followers, wey dey follow me, wey dey para say I make video say I dey f*ck 15-year-old, this video is for all of you. I’m an artist, we need controversy to eat, we need controversy to eat.”
He defended his actions as necessary for visibility in the music industry: “Yes! If dem no carry you for mouth you’re not getting booked, simple. Nobody’s booking something that’s not trending.”
Explaining further, he linked the stunt to his new song “Village Girl”, saying: “The song is talking about ‘f*ck this, f*ck that’. This is my direction, this is my genre, I no dey do Christian music. So when I drop…type of music, we need f*ck acting content to push it, that’s what I was doing. So don’t give it more life than it’s supposed to have, ok!”
He concluded with an apology to those offended but maintained that controversy is essential for relevance: “If any of you is offended, alright then, apologies. There’s one million ‘quantillion’ that wants to be artist, how do we know of you and your own sound, so you have to be controversial, yes! So that’s what you see me doing in that video, selling my market, so that’s all it is and I hope you guys understand, peace and have a good day.”
