Funke Akindele Missed Kamo State’s Premiere. The Internet Cast a Feud Anyway

Funke Akindele missed Kamo State’s film premiere, and the internet promptly wrote an entire friendship breakup without waiting for the credits. Kamo State has supplied a less cinematic explanation: she was out of the country.

The actor and skit maker, whose real name is Akinyoola Ayoola, addressed talk about Akindele’s absence from the Lagos premiere of his debut cinema film Star Lomo. In a statement reported by PUNCH, he said they were on good terms, had discussed the event, and that she would support the film. Her absence, he said, should not be read as a falling-out.

“She missed my premiere simply because she wasn’t in the country and nothing more to it,” he wrote. He also asked people to keep their attention on the film instead of speculating about their personal relationship. One empty seat, it seems, is not an affidavit.

Why people noticed

The speculation had a recognisable origin. Akindele has been a visible supporter of Kamo State’s career, and he has appeared in projects associated with her, including Everybody Loves Jenifa. When she was absent from his first cinema premiere on Sunday, 20 September, some social media users interpreted the missing appearance as a change in their relationship. TVC News also reported the questions circulating online and noted accounts placing Akindele in Ghana around the time.

That online reaction is a fact; the alleged quarrel is not established. Kamo’s account is his own direct explanation, and ASTRA has seen no reliable evidence that the two are feuding. Akindele’s schedule and Kamo’s statement provide a plausible answer without inventing a private argument for public entertainment.

There is an irony in the timing. A premiere is supposed to generate interest in the film, and the debate certainly did that, though it briefly made the guest list the main character. Kamo has asked for a return to the actual work. TVC News says Star Lomo is due in Nigerian cinemas on Friday, 25 September.

For viewers, the next verifiable development is the release, not a theory about who did or did not stand beside a red carpet backdrop. If either artist says more about their working relationship, that can be reported on its merits. Until then, Kamo’s position is straightforward: the friendship is fine, and the film is coming.

Featured photograph: Kaizenify / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Taken in 2021; it does not depict the 2026 premiere. Original file; site display may crop the preview.