Nigerian singer Simisola Ogunleye, popularly known as Simi, has responded to backlash after some of her old tweets resurfaced online.
The controversy began when the singer took to X (formerly Twitter) to demand that rapists be “castrated and burnt alive,” expressing outrage over allegations by a TikToker identified as Mirabel, who claimed she was sexually assaulted in her home.
However, Simi faced intense criticism after unverified reports went viral alleging that Mirabel had retracted her claims and admitted the report was false.
Critics accused the singer of remaining silent on the alleged development, sparking days of online trolling. The backlash later led to renewed scrutiny of Simi’s past tweets.
In a 2012 post, the singer wrote about a four-year-old child having a crush on her and “acting like he wana loc lip” with her. In another tweet, she appeared to joke about the same child “trying to put hand inside my shet (sic).”
Reacting to the controversy, Simi via X on Sunday night, said she was 23 when she wrote the tweets and insisted they were never written from a place of perversion.
She explained that at the time, she lived with her mother and helped run her daycare while pursuing her music career, often tweeting about everyday experiences.
According to her, the posts reflected humorous interactions with children at the daycare and were never intended to be inappropriate.
She also maintained that she has “never been depraved” in her life and criticised attempts to twist her words to fit what she described as “false narratives.”
The singer noted that although her team has begun deleting some of the tweets due to their sensitivity to her family, she initially did not want them removed.
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Simi further stressed that she has consistently spoken out against sexual assault long before gaining fame, acknowledging that she is not perfect but reaffirming her stance against sexual violence.
Her post 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 admire/d. 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.”