Ghanaian hiplife artist Mzbel is angry about how the media’s negative publicity has affected her career.
In an interview that was shown on JoyPrime, Mzbel claimed that the scandal’s notoriety had cost her opportunities with businesses and relationships. Mzbel claims that it is difficult for her to get collaborations with businesses and organizations that may not want to be connected with someone viewed as controversial because of the media’s attention on negative and controversial articles about her.
“It’s really broken me business-wise because most brands don’t want to be associated with somebody who is being negatively controversial.
Anytime Mzbel is trending, it’s something negative. So, it really affected me, and sometimes when I ran into trouble, instead of the media reporting me in their favor, they made it seem as if I deserved it.”
When she spoke out about being assaulted by students at a performance at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in 2005, she described how some media coverage, rather than showing sympathy, blamed her for the event and criticized her costume.
“They made it look like it’s because of the way I dressed, and I deserved it,” she said.
This was a major factor in her being passed up for contracts with businesses that had shown interest in working with her.
Mzbel said that although she doesn’t have a problem with the press covering scandals involving famous people, she would prefer that such publicity be limited so that she and other artists may strike lucrative commercial agreements without fear of reprisal.
