{"id":283061,"date":"2011-02-27T06:08:33","date_gmt":"2011-02-27T06:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-%e2%80%93-stella-damasus\/"},"modified":"2011-02-27T06:08:33","modified_gmt":"2011-02-27T06:08:33","slug":"leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/","title":{"rendered":"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\t\"Click<\/p>\n

Stella Damasus <\/p>\n


\n
She is furious, livid if you like. Actress cum movie prodigy, Stella Damasus wants people to leave her private life alone, and focus on her work. She insists in this interview with Olumide Segun-Oduntan that her relationship with the public is the work she does, and not what happens in her bedroom.<\/p>\n

Do you still sing?
Yes I do. I still have my band<\/p>\n

Some of your colleagues in the film industry have been releasing albums. Do you intend to toe that line?
Well, it was part of the plan. Some years back, my late husband and I actually had an album for our band, Synergy. Of course when he died a lot of things just slowed down. So I didn\u2019t pursue it so much because I wanted to stabilise some other areas of my life. I\u2019ve about two songs as my own singles but I\u2019m not ready and that\u2019s the truth. I\u2019m not going to rush into it because every other person is doing it. It has to be a choice that I would make because I\u2019m ready to do it. For me, singing for 15 years does not mean that I feel that my voice is perfect enough to go into the studio immediately. So I\u2019m at that phase where I\u2019m still doing a lot of voice training. So before I even say I want to do an album, everything has to be in place because I\u2019m not about to do the album and start looking for who will buy it. I don\u2019t want my music to be like that. I want to have a proper record label on ground that I can see and verify that \u2018okay these people are good\u2019. They can take care of your music. They would have people that would do the production for you. They would have people that would get you shows.\u2019 For acting you would hustle then to do music you will come and hustle again.<\/p>\n

Obviously you actresses are making a lot of money?
That is the biggest lie ever. That is the biggest lie they have been selling through the media for a long time. There is nobody that would come and tell you \u2018oh in the movie industry, I\u2019m extremely well paid. That is a big lie because even the producers don\u2019t even have enough money most of the time to cover their costs let alone being able to pay actors very well. That\u2019s why people are bad-mouthing a lot of us that \u2018oh some of you move from set to set\u2019. And my question is why not. A lot of people are not like me. I have other strings of income. A lot of people do only acting. So if you pay them and not that much, how long would they have to use the money before they get another one? Look at all the old actors that are there. They are very broke. Sixty percent of most of our actors that were really popular, they all have one illness or the other. They are begging people to help them. If they have that much money saved up they won\u2019t be in the position they are today.<\/p>\n

But actresses like Omotola and Genevieve seem to be rich. Some people are lucky they are married to people that are wealthy. Some people are lucky to get endorsement deals out there. But if you think that whatever we are doing now is based on what we earn from movies, it\u2019s a big lie. I\u2019m lucky that I\u2019ve discovered the other things that I can do and do well. So I\u2019m able to multi-task, if not I can\u2019t maintain a particular standard of living or quality of life. So don\u2019t let anybody deceive you that home video pays so much. That\u2019s a lie.<\/p>\n

Give me a figure of what the industry is paying now.
Oh it\u2019s even worse now. I might not want to do that because of my colleagues but before the ban they had some time ago, it was not great, but it was something at least that you can just use to pay off some bills. But now it\u2019s terrible. So a lot of people are doing partnerships, barter deals and other things \u2013 use me in your film, I\u2019ll do it for free and when it\u2019s out , we split the proceed or I do film for you and you will do my own because everybody has become producers all of a sudden. That\u2019s how a lot of us survive.<\/p>\n

As a celebrity, do you enjoy being famous?
No, because I\u2019m a very simple person. Unfortunately for me, you can\u2019t separate the nature of the job from the glamorous life of a celebrity. Most of the time, I want to be very simple. I want to walk into a place and live a normal life. But I cannot live a normal life because of the nature of my job. It\u2019s not fun. I can\u2019t live a normal life. I wish I could. I miss my life. So when people ask me \u2018would you do this again?\u2019 I will but not like this, very differently. I will live my life slightly different from this. Anything that I can do to reduce all the attention, I would because I\u2019m a family person and I like to see myself as a mother who wants to care for her children. You see, in developed parts of the world, you would find that being a celebrity comes with its ups and downs. But most of the time, even with negative publicity, they also celebrate their stars to the point that people would do anything to see them. But here, if you are not friends with the media, if you don\u2019t do something to appease them, you\u2019re nothing. They would want to really mess you up. Everything is controversy. Everything is sensational for them.<\/p>\n

But some of the reports are true
No, no, no. If you ask me, it\u2019s only five percent of journalists in this country thatdo investigative journalism. Most of the time they write crap. They don\u2019t know anything about you. They come up with all sorts of things. They don\u2019t even get the true version of anything and they just print it to get a reaction.<\/p>\n

But you can always sue such media
Sue a magazine in this country? Let\u2019s be realistic here. Let\u2019s think of the judicial system in our country and see how many years it will take you to sue one paper. And then the others would now pounce on the story of what\u2019s going on. You would now give more credibility to the paper and make it more popular. Then you spending money to battle them in court and they are still making money. So they would keep riding on that story. If our society, our judiciary make sense there are some things you would not tolerate. For me I just move on and do more positive things.<\/p>\n

Among the negative things that have been written about you, which ones are false?
They are all false.<\/p>\n

Give me an example
I can\u2019t give you any example. The truth is that they don\u2019t know me. A lot of people don\u2019t know me because I\u2019m not easily accessible to them. They don\u2019t know how I live. They\u2019ve never even seen my children before. They\u2019ve called me all sorts of name. \u2018Oh she\u2019s a bad mother\u2019.<\/p>\n

What aspect of being a celebrity do you like?
Well, I like the appreciation from people and their encouragement. A lot of people pray for me. That\u2019s the only thing that I enjoy there. Every other thing, I don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

What about the glamour?
I don\u2019t enjoy it. I didn\u2019t enter the industry because of that. I entered the industry because of the passion. I love my job but I didn\u2019t expect all the wahala that would come with it.<\/p>\n

With your busy schedule, how do you find time for your children?
My children work with me when they are not in school. They give me ideas. They are 11 and eight years old and they are so creative. So I spend most of my time with them. They don\u2019t stress me and they are very understanding.<\/p>\n

Is it true that you are single now?
Let me ask you a question. Did they put any picture of my wedding in the paper or did anybody tell anybody that they attended my wedding?<\/p>\n

Are you saying you were not married to Emeka Nzeribe?
I didn\u2019t say that either. When people write something and they are so definite about it, one tends to wonder is it not the same way they have been hearing other gist that they\u2019ve been hearing this one too? But they heard that \u2018oh marriage scattered\u2019 meaning that there was a marriage. So my question is, were they able to prove that there was a marriage in the first place. I\u2019m not denying that there was a marriage. Of course I was married. But what\u2019s their proof that I was married in the first place if not for hearsay. Is it not the same hearsay that would still tell you \u2018oh her marriage has broken up\u2019. Who was there when they saw divorce paper or separation paper? Nobody was there. I can boldly tell you that nobody asked me if I was married when I got married. They just heard and printed and that was it. Yes I was married to Emeka Nzeribe. So the marriage part happened.<\/p>\n

So what is the true situation now?
The thing is, if you are sensible, you don\u2019t talk about certain things. I would rather have people who want to insinuate and write things. Let them insinuate and write things.<\/p>\n

But that wouldn\u2019t be fair to you or the public.
Truly, but my relationship with the public is the work that I do. It\u2019s not what happens in my bedroom. I\u2019m not like the others and that\u2019s the truth. I prefer it that way. People should learn to leave my private life alone. They should focus on my work. Anything that has to do with my life outside of my work that makes me a celebrity, I don\u2019t discuss it. I no dey talk anyhow.
\n
\"Click<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Do you have a story\/gist for publication? Please email it to story@nigeriafilms.com <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

See the original post:
\nLeave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stella Damasus She is furious, livid if you like. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nLeave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Stella Damasus She is furious, livid if you like.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-27T06:08:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\"},\"wordCount\":1802,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\",\"name\":\"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-27T06:08:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Stella Damasus She is furious, livid if you like.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus","datePublished":"2011-02-27T06:08:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/"},"wordCount":1802,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/","name":"Leave my private life alone \u2013 Stella Damasus - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==","datePublished":"2011-02-27T06:08:33+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/27\/leave-my-private-life-alone-stella-damasus\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA==","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.nigeriafilms.com\/image.aspx?img=Y29udGVudC9jb250ZW50L1N0ZWxsYS1EYW1hc3VzLTMuanBnfDYwMA=="},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}