On the Sexuality Blog, we do not subscribe to the point of view that people in the public eye are first and foremost people and then celebrities. Many take that to mean that their deliberate attempts to misinform and manipulate their audiences can be forgiven or overlooked, especially when their actions can have real world consequences.

As a person who vies for public attention, it is up to you to ensure that attention is used positively and respected. Juliana Olayode‘s recent actions has proved that perhaps she is undeserving of celebrity.

For those who do not know, Nigerian actress Juliana Olayode got famous for her stellar turn as “Toyosi” on the Funke Akindele-helmed mega hit television show ‘Jenifa’s Diary’ has been in the news for the last few weeks for a series of revelations that she has offered through a slew of interviews.

My #wcw goes to this cutie…??? This was me, many years ago. It was about this time, the sexual abuses began. It was torment in those days… Details are in Chapter 2 of Rebirth. Have you pre-ordered yet? If you have not, please hurry and do so. The discount would soon be over! Visit www.olayodejuliana.com/rebirth for more info. The link is on my bio/profile #rebirth #innocence #girlchild #molestation #assault

A post shared by Juliana Olayode (@olayodejuliana) on Aug 9, 2017 at 1:05pm PDT

Two weeks ago, Olayode suggested cryptically via the post above  on Instagram that she had been sexually molested as a child. Gossip blogs quickly took up the information, inferring rightly from her cryptic statement and publicising it.

Then a few days later, Olayode revealed through excerpts from a yet to be released memoir that she actually lost her virginity to her high school teacher when she was 17 and underaged. She went to great lengths to assure us that while she felt cheated, at the time the act had been consensual. Both stories have been unsubstantiated by a third party and have proven to be publicity for her upcoming memoir “ReBirth”. This is all great, however, Juliana Olayode’s story wasn’t exactly adding up.

A few years before, Olayode gave an interview where she stated explicitly that she was a virgin and keeping her virginity for marriage. So when this new information was revealed, Olayode was rightfully asked to clarify why she had lied in the first place. Olayode then chose to tell us that she didn’t actually say she was a virgin, that instead the person who interviewed her at the time did, and she ‘went along’ with it because it was none of our business if she was a virgin or not. This kind of faulty reasoning simply cannot fly.

Olayode willingly enjoyed the attention that being publicly singled out as a ‘virgin’ in an industry that condemns all actresses and prostitutes and enjoyed the good will that came from being distinguished as such. She eventually was let go from her hit show and has been unable to transition into other shows. So the timing of her new memoir and it’s ‘salacious’ confessions makes it very hard for anyone to believe anything that she says now. This would be fine if Olayode‘s actions didn’t just reinforce the stereotype that all women in media and film are liars and sexual deviants seeking to downplay their sexual activity as a way to gain favours.

In an ideal world, Olayode would be adequately punished for this, but we will have to settle for this assay.

We hope she understands that her actions and her attempt to use opportunistic means to get herself media attention on national media platforms contribute greatly to making it harder for women who are genuinely virgins from being believed and making it harder for women who suffered abuse as children to speak openly about the assault they suffered.

Editor