“Do you think Kenyan women, whether they are dating or not, are too available, too lose, too willing, or too desperate and is that the reaso...
“Do you think Kenyan women, whether they are dating or not, are too available, too lose, too willing, or too desperate and is that the reason they get themselves in such situations?” Shaffie Weru asked his co-hosts on March 24, 2021 during his 'The Lift Off' show.
These words were part of a conversation that sparked the downfall of media personality Shaffie Weru after he, DJ Joe Mfalme and Neville Musya victim shamed a woman who had been pushed off a tall building by a man she met on social media and rejected his romantic advances when they met.
It was after the airing of this show, The Lift Off, that Kenyans’ outrage reared its head as demands streamed in fast and furious demanding the sacking of the trio for making light of attempted rape situations. The trio issued personal apologies on their platforms and had to return on air to apologize to the victim and Kenyans at large.
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Shaffie Weru. PHOTO| COURTESY[/caption]
“I realize and accept that my statements about the unfortunate incident that happened to Eunice were very insensitive and hurtful and could be interpreted by some as encouraging the already ongoing and unacceptable culture of violence against women and girls.
I sincerely apologize to Eunice and her family and I deeply regret any harm that I have caused with my words. I, in no way, shape or form support or tolerate any kind of violence. I am a proud and loving father to my daughters and will not and cannot condone violence toward women,” said Shaffie in his personal apology.
Also read: Shaffie Weru provides a platform for redemption with “Shafted” Series
Their apologies were not well received even as brands began pulling their adverts from the radio station.
In the first episode of his online series, Shafted, Shaffie Weru interviewed his alter ego, the Raverend, over the apology he issued and asked whether apologizing was a sham.
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Shaffie Weru[/caption]
It was at this point that the Raverend revealed the behind-the-scenes blunders that occurred before his apology was published.
“So we decided to take it upon ourselves. Our first link when we entered (the studio) was to try and apologize and see if we can be able to make amends.
It went south, and in that panic state, I had to call legal and ask her, ‘I’ve written this apology, please take a look at it and tell me wagwan’. Whether she looked at it or not, I don’t know but she gave me the go-ahead to post it.
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So Joe did his apology, I did my own apology- you can see, if this thing had been done and handled right, we would have done a communal apology, like one voice, and we say exactly wagwan.
And then maybe, guys would have taken us more seriously but now…first Neville had already released his apology written by G-Money.
Even before we started the show, DJ Joe Mfalme had already released his apology and I was left alone.
By the time I was chucking mine as the third one, guys were like ‘Yes, they understand that the issue was messed up but that is where I apologize. I apologize for how we handled the whole apology scenario,” said Shaffie.
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Shaffie Weru. PHOTO| COURTESY[/caption]
It was at this time that EABL and Safaricom released statements castigating the incident with one of them pulling their adverts from any programs associated with the trio at Radio Africa Group’s Homeboyz Radio.
Shaffie revealed he was later informed that he would be suspended and later told when to come back- and he accepted his fate- only for him to get fired hours after learning he would only face suspension.
“I will not shaft myself ever again! I am wiser, I understand better, I know the issues that can be discussed, can be touched and I am avoiding to use the word woke but I am woke right now because, yoh, times change, things change.
I am not here to get the regular guy to accept my apology. It hurt me, it was a lesson that is making me feel much better right now,” said Shaffie.
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