“Sex-for-role, I almost quit Nollywood” – Mercy Aigbe discloses

Nigerian actress and filmmaker, Mercy Aigbe Adeoti, has shared her experience with sexual harassment in the film industry, revealing that it nearly drove her away. In a recent interview on TVC’s ‘Your View,’ Aigbe opened up about an incident where a producer made advances towards her after a movie audition.

Aigbe explained that despite auditioning for a top role in an upcoming film, she was given a different role in the end. It was only after she spoke up about the incident that she realized the producer had expected sexual favors from her in exchange for a better role.

Despite facing various challenges within the industry, Aigbe emphasized that she managed to rise to success through consistency and perseverance.

“I once met a producer in Surulere, and I expressed to him how much I would love to act. He told me he had an upcoming film, and invited me to his office for an audition. I passed three stages of the audition. After the last audition, I was given a minor role. I told him that was not the character I was auditioning for, and he replied that the director said he did not know me, and that was why he said I should be close to him (the producer).

“He had been making passes at me before then, but he did not come out clean to me until that day. He then stood up and tried to touch me. I was very upset, and I told him he could not do that to me, because I had earned the role.

That was a huge insult to my person, and I thought if that was what it took to be an actress, I did not want to be an actress anymore. I tore the script and eventually left. On my way home, I cried because I had left a well-paying job to join Nollywood, and I was already a single mother at the time.”