Simi Faces Backlash For Defending Her Old Post ‘Sexualising’ Four-Year-Old Boy

Nigerian singer Simi is facing intense criticism after responding to the resurfacing of old tweets that have stirred intense debate online.

The backlash comes amid heightened attention on Simi following her outspoken stance against rape culture and the discussion around the rape allegation involving Mirabel.

Some of her decade-old tweets were brought back to the spotlight, sparking discussions and anger from social media users.

One of the tweets, dated March 14, 2012, from her X account @SympLySimi, described a four-year-old boy named David as having a crush on her.

She wrote that he often got physically close, acted like he wanted to kiss her, and rested his head on her lap, and she questioned whether she should give him attention.

Reacting on Sunday night, Simi said the tweets were written when she was 23, working on her music career while helping at her mother’s daycare, and were innocent reflections of everyday life, not anything inappropriate.

The singer insisted that her words were being misrepresented and that she has never acted with perverse intentions.

She also pointed out that her fame now exposes her past actions to broad interpretations, and she never tried to hide her personality as a young woman expressing herself openly.

Simi added that some older tweets were being removed by her team out of concern for her family, even though she had initially resisted deleting them.

The statement reads, “I haven’t been on Twitter today – but someone brought a few of my old tweets to my attention and I can’t not address it. 14 years ago, I was 23, so I was definitely not a child. I’m not here to make excuses because I don’t have anything to make excuses for. What I can’t let anyone do is twist my story to fit false narratives.

“In 2012, I lived and helped out at my mom’s daycare while I was hustling my music. I tweeted everything that happened in my life, as we all did at the time. Kids can be mischievous. If a child did something I found funny, I tweeted about it. Kids are cute and lovable. I want to hug, kiss and cuddle them. I tweet about it. Nothing I tweeted was from perversion.

“I was not famous, so maybe if I was, I would have understood that anything is open to whatever interpretation including being used falsely by a faceless mob. I’ve never been depraved in my life. You can retweet all the tweets in the world about me loudly crushing on people I admired. Or being a cheeky young woman. I wasn’t trying to hide it, because I don’t have anything to hide.

“My team has been deleting some of my tweets because of how sensitive it is for my family. To be honest, I did not want to. I have always spoken against rape and sexual assault even before you knew I existed. It’s not a costume I’m wearing, it’s who I am. I’ve never claimed to be perfect. I’ve never claimed to know everything. I said stop raping women. I stand by it.”

Simi’s explanation has sparked further outrage online, with many accusing her of being insensitive and failing to fully acknowledge how her past words could be perceived..

See the reactions below:

https://x.com/Obianuju2721931/status/2025708906631012712?s=20

This comes a few days after Simi spoke out against sexual assault, urging men to do more to address the problem and stop protecting abusers.