Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Funke Akindele, has recounted how an unnamed social media influencer rejected her offer to pay for promotional content for her 2024 film, Everybody Loves Jenifa.
Akindele made this known while speaking during a panel session at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND), where she discussed her experiences with influencer partnerships and the challenges of promoting her projects.
She said she was initially hesitant to contact the influencer but eventually sent a message proposing a content collaboration during the film’s promotional campaign.
According to her, she waited for several days before receiving a response that the influencer’s management was not interested in the proposed collaboration.
“There was one influencer I reached out to. I sent a message to them that I would like to create content. One, two, three, four times a week. And I didn’t want to send this message. This was during Everybody Loves Jenifa, but I tried,” she said.
She added that she offered to pay for the promotional content, but the influencer did not respond.
“The person was like, ‘I’m sorry, my management, they don’t want me to do this.’ The person was like, ‘Oh, please, I’m paying. I’m paying.’ The person ignored me,” Akindele said.
The filmmaker said she later came across claims that she had blocked someone because of the disagreement, although she did not identify the person or provide further details about the claims.
She said the experience did not discourage her from pursuing promotional partnerships, adding that she had learnt to handle rejection without allowing it to affect her.
“I didn’t let it affect me. I embraced it. I didn’t go and reply. I just said, God, take control. I got back to it,” she said.
Akindele also encouraged people to distinguish constructive criticism from discouragement, urging them to remain focused on their goals despite negative comments.
The filmmaker has recorded major box office successes in recent years.
Her 2023 film, Battle on Buka Street, grossed about N640m, while A Tribe Called Judah became the first Nollywood film to cross the N1bn mark at the Nigerian box office in January 2024.
Later that year, Everybody Loves Jenifa grossed about N1.88bn, setting a record as the highest-grossing film in West Africa at the time.
Her 2025 film, Behind the Scenes, also crossed the N2bn mark, setting a new box office milestone for African cinema.
Watch the video below:
𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 ‘𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐚’ – 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞 𝐀𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞
Credit: X | Hybrid_Ola
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