Sex-for-role: How I almost quit Nollywood – Mercy Aigbe spills

Mercy Aigbe Adeoti, a popular Nigerian actress and filmmaker, has revealed how she nearly left the film industry due to sexual harassment.

In a recent interview on TVC’s ‘Your View,’ the movie star revealed that a producer made passes at her after a movie audition.

She went on to say that despite having a top role in the upcoming film, she was given another role, and it was only after she spoke up that she realised he wanted to get down with her in order to get a better role.

Mercy Aigbe added that, despite other challenges in the industry, she rose to the top through consistency. She stated:

“I once met a producer in Surulere, and I expressed to him how much I would love to act. He told me he had an upcoming film, and invited me to his office for an audition. I passed three stages of the audition. After the last audition, I was given a minor role. I told him that was not the character I was auditioning for, and he replied that the director said he did not know me, and that was why he said I should be close to him (the producer).
“He had been making passes at me before then, but he did not come out clean to me until that day. He then stood up and tried to touch me. I was very upset, and I told him he could not do that to me, because I had earned the role.

That was a huge insult to my person, and I thought if that was what it took to be an actress, I did not want to be an actress anymore. I tore the script and eventually left. On my way home, I cried because I had left a well-paying job to join Nollywood, and I was already a single mother at the time.”