Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, one of Nigeria’s most recognisable film stars, has pushed back against long-running claims of a personal feud with fellow Nollywood icon Genevieve Nnaji, describing the narrative as a fiction largely fuelled by fans.
Speaking in a recent interview on Yanga FM, the 47-year-old actress said the supposed rivalry never truly existed between the two women and was instead shaped by public comparisons during the early years of their careers.
Okay News reports that Jalade-Ekeinde likened the situation to the way fans often project rivalry onto popular musicians, noting that the same pattern played out when Nollywood was gaining wider attention.
“The alleged feud is similar to what fans do with music stars like Wizkid and Davido. At the time, they started with us, we were their first practical example. Really, they were the ones who started the quarrel before we even realised there was one,” she said.
According to Jalade-Ekeinde, the idea of a clash took on a life of its own before either actress was fully aware of it.
“The fans began the quarrel before we knew we were supposedly quarreling. So we had to catch up with the narrative, even though there was actually no quarrel,” she explained.
She acknowledged that comparisons and competition were inevitable at the height of their rise, but stressed that this did not amount to hostility.
“We were young then, and there were conversations about who the hottest actress was, with actresses being pitched against each other. There was some tension, which is normal, but fans interpreted it differently,” she said.
Addressing perceptions of distance between them, Jalade-Ekeinde clarified that while they were never close friends, their relationship remained respectful and professional away from the spotlight.
“People don’t have to be best friends, but we talked. Behind the scenes, we communicated,” she added.
Both actresses emerged as leading figures in Nollywood around the same period and were widely regarded as defining faces of Nigerian cinema during its global expansion.
Despite frequent comparisons over the years, they have shared the screen only once, appearing together in the 2010 film Ije: The Journey.
