Mercy Aigbe, fashion designer fight dirty over ankara shirt

Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe Gentry, and a fashion designer, identified as Phoonmy Afrika, have been exchanging words over alleged breach of agreement.

It started on Thursday when the designer accused the Satanic star of not giving credit for a complimentary ankara shirt allegedly given to her.

According to the complainant, another actress, Jumoke Odetola, was given a design which she wore and promoted on social media.

Mercy, on the other hand, was said to have worn the cloth given to her but refused to give credit.

When her attention was brought to the alleged breach, she was said to have blocked Phoonmy Afrika on social media.

“Does she by anyway know with whom she is dealing with? Things are about to get messy with Mercy and she should be ready for us because if we have to rip our clothes off her skin, we will… just to have it back,” the designer threatened.

As someone who had worked behind the camera in the Nigerian Entertainment Industry popularly called Nollywood and now a Fashion Designer,  I picked an interest in two Nollywood Stars @mercyaigbegentry and @jumokeodetola for two different reasons but as the Yoruba adage says: Isunmoni la nmo ise eni. On a closer look you get to know that these people are not what they portrayed. Jumoke Odetola in her case lived up to standard as we approached her to flaunt one of our designs on social media, she responsibly did as agreed an even advertised our company to a few friends while Mercy Aigbe on the other hand collected the sewn garment, wore it to occasions, flaunted it on IG and refused to tag our Company which was the gentleman agreement we had. The problem here is not the fact that Mercy did tag us but her mannerisms when we approached her. Mercy slyly responded well to our chat saying she would do a ‘rerock’ and tag us but immediately blocked our comments on our post then blocked us on instagram. We put a call through to Jumoke who acted as our link to Mercy tried to pacify the situation but another conversation with Jumoke’s manager spurred our anger. According to Mr Abiodun Jimoh @abeyjomo, on telling Mercy Aigbe that she shouldn’t have worn the clothes since she knew she wouldn’t give the Company that gave her the garment the credit, Mercy had replied that she has worn it and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. When we sent a message through Mr Jimoh that we would like to have our garment back. Mercy said it they can come and pick it, she later said No! She would not give it back. The big questions are? Did Mercy believe we gave her our clothe as Charity? Is she from a motherless baby’s home? Does she feel so untouchable because she is a cheap star that she is? Does she by anyway know with whom she is dealing with? Things are about to get messy with Mercy and she should be ready for us because if we have to rip our clothes off her skin, we will… just to have it back. @lindaikejiofficial @pulsenigeria247 @seunoloketuyi @nollywoodpalava @playground.ng @goldmymetv @instablog9ja, @toyinadedire @nollywoodonline

A photo posted by Phoonmy Afrika Fashion School (@phoonmy_afrika) on Jan 19, 2017 at 5:03am PST

@mercyaigbegentry blocked #phoonmyafrika ,deleted some of her own replies on our dm chat and tagged another designer. ?? . That’s cheap! Haa!!!

A photo posted by Phoonmy Afrika Fashion School (@phoonmy_afrika) on Jan 19, 2017 at 7:48am PST

Responding, Mercy denied knowing the designer, saying the ankara shirt was a birthday gift from Jumoke Odetola who didn’t ask her to tag anyone.

Goodmorning Fam!….. my attention as been drawn to a particular story trending, regarding this shirt, pls I will like to state categorically that I don’t know the said designer, I never agreed to tag her and she didn’t give me the shirt. The shirt was given to me by Jumoke Odetola as a birthday gift and when she dropped the shirt at my office, she never mentioned the designer and didn’t tell me to tag anyone. ………thank you all and have a blessed day ? Note- I tagged @tsmartcouture for the skirt.

A photo posted by Mercilicious (@mercyaigbegentry) on Jan 20, 2017 at 1:30am PST

Undeterred, the designer responded with image of two posts allegedly sent by the actress.

One said “Hello” while the other read “Thanks for the shirt”.

Dear @mercyaigbegentry you deleted all your messages from DM but… oops! You forgot to delete “hello” and “thanks for the shirt”. Ok so how come you dont know the “so called designer”. Lol… YOU ARE A JOKE! @instablog9ja @stelladimokokorkus @playground.ng @goldmine

A photo posted by Phoonmy Afrika Fashion School (@phoonmy_afrika) on Jan 20, 2017 at 2:46am PST

Apart from acting, Mercy Aigbe is known for her unique style and dressing.

The 38-year-old mother-of-two also has a fashion store, Mag Divas Boutique, which was launched in November 2014.

The success of the store earned her the Fashion Entrepreneur of The Year award by Links and Glitz World Awards.

She was the subject of controversy recently when she failed to show up as host of the Best of Nollywood (BON) award in Abia State.

Qed.ng learnt that the organisers procured a N250,000 dress for her but she did not make the trip to Umuahia for the award ceremony.