Nigerian singer Simi has addressed the growing criticism that followed the resurfacing of some of her tweets from over a decade ago, clarifying that the posts were never written with any inappropriate intent.
The renewed scrutiny began after the Duduke crooner strongly condemned sexual violence on her X account, calling for rapists to be “castrated and burnt alive.”
Her statement came amid public outrage sparked by allegations from a TikToker, Mirabel, who claimed she was assaulted in her home.
As the online debate intensified — especially after unverified claims surfaced that Mirabel had withdrawn her story — social media users began circulating screenshots of Simi’s old tweets from 2012, triggering widespread backlash.
In one of the resurfaced posts, the singer jokingly mentioned a four-year-old child having a crush on her and “acting like he wants lip.” Another tweet appeared to describe the same child attempting to touch her inappropriately, a statement that quickly drew criticism.
Reacting in a detailed post on Monday, Simi said she felt compelled to respond after the old tweets were brought to her attention.
“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,” she wrote.
“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.”
Now 37, the singer explained that at the time, she was living with her mother and helping at her daycare centre while trying to build her music career. According to her, social media then served as a personal diary where she casually shared everyday experiences, never imagining they could be misinterpreted years later.
“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,” she explained.
Simi stressed that she has never been depraved, describing her younger self as a playful and outspoken young woman with no hidden motives.
“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.”
The singer also revealed that her team had begun deleting some of the old tweets to protect her family’s privacy, although she was initially reluctant.
“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,” she concluded.
