I needed controversy to promote my song,’ Speed Darlington apologises after viral video sparks outrage

Controversial Nigerian singer, Speed Darlington, has apologised to his fans following the backlash from a viral video in which he appeared to admit to sleeping with a 15-year-old virgin girl.

In the original footage, now widely condemned across social media, the artist described in unsettling detail a decade-old encounter with a teenage girl, sparking immediate outrage and prompting calls for legal action.

But in a follow-up video posted on his Instagram page on Wednesday, Speed Darlington claimed the viral story was nothing more than a publicity stunt, crafted to promote his latest music release.

He also apologised to his fans and anyone who found the video offensive.

All my followers pissed off about the video I recorded in which I spoke about me sleeping with a 15-year-old, I am an artist. I need controversy to eat. If you are not trending, you are not getting booked. Simple! Nobody is booking something that is not trending.

“I have a new song now. The song is talking about f#ck this, f#ck that. This is my genre. I do not perform Christian music. When I dropped my song, I needed f#ck contents to push it,. That is what I was doing. Don’t give it more like than it is supposed to have.

“If any of you are offended, it’s alright. Apologies.” he said.

News on Tuesday reported that Speed Darlington was criticised following a viral Instagram live video in which he seemingly admitted to defiling a 15-year-old girl.

The incident, which he narrated in Igbo, also prompted swift reaction from the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons.

In 2022, Speed Darlington had in an Instagram live revealed an altercation he had with a neighbour who accused him of getting too close to a 16-year-old girl.

The singer filmed two women outside his apartment while he walked around his living room holding a knife to threaten them, saying, “They continually invade my privacy, opening my window, opening my curtain. I’m alone, two people attacking me.”

One of the women, also filming him, was heard saying, “You’ve met your match. Speed comes outside. I will deal with you; I will deal with you. Why are you running? Continue your live video, let them know you’re a rapist. You want to start messaging a 16-year-old girl, a house girl. Open this door, come out.”

Reports says  in 2023 that Speed Darlington similarly got many talking following his search for a girlfriend who must be between the ages of 16 and 20.

“I’m looking for a girlfriend number two, 16 to 20 years old. Anyways all these announcements are a waste. I just need to do what I did before; which is go do a show and spend a week in the village after the show, find somebody to bring her to Lagos,” he said.