Talent manager Toni Payne has recounted on her Instagram stories how ace comedian AY refused to let Olamide perform at his show when the latter was still a rising artiste.
Payne recalls that AY later came back to beg for a favour when Olamide’s career took off about a year later.In her post, she disclosed that she had a good working relationship with the comedian and had requested he allow Olamide to perform at his (AY’s) show but AY declined.
She also revealed that the incident made her stop speaking to AY. She said while she understands his turning down Olamide as a rising artiste, he looked like a user asking for a free performance when Olamide’s career had taken shape.Her post reads in part:
“Lol… I was speaking to a friend today and it reminded me of one story when I
was managing Olamide… I stopped speaking to comedian AY cos of this incident
and honestly till today, I’m glad I did cos I don’t like people with that sort
of character.So me and AY used to be cool. I’d done favors for him in the past,
no big deal. When Olamide was coming up, I decided to ask cash in a favor and
ask if Olamide could perform at his show even if it’s for a minute.Omo, see
ela. The man refused to give the boy a chance. It pained me ehn. I took the L
and lamented for weeks. Lmao! No wahala, we sha kept it pushing. Anyways fast
forward to the next year, Olamide had started doing well and guess who
conveniently needed a favor, and wanted Olamide to perform? Oga comedian.This
is the same guy that turned Ola down cos he wasn’t big now looking for “friend
of the house” performance. See ehn, it’s ok to turn him down, nothing is by
force but don’t come back later looking for a favor from that same person you
underrated. It makes you look like a user. IMO!”
She goes on to write that she told ID Cabasa about the incident and he asked
that AY must pay and she was willing to charge double the rate.She concluded
her post by saying that Olamide’s path to success was a hard one but she knew
his talent couldn’t be hidden for long.