Actress Mercy Johnson who was reportedly in a showdown with her older colleague, Patience Ozokwor on location in Asaba few weeks back, has blamed her uncontrollable outburst on Ozokwor’s repeated utterances referring to her as an ‘ashawo’- a hoochie.
In a telephone interview, Mercy recounted her side of the story. She noted that Patience Ozokwor was given a revealing clothe to wear on that location, apparently to depict a character in the movie that was in the making and Patience allegedly refused the outfit, stating that she is not Mercy Johnson, not an ‘ashawo’.
“I’m not a prostitute. I don’t like the name. I told her I didn’t like it”. According to her, the faceoff was escalated when Mama Gee refused to stop calling her by unpleasant name.
By last week, there were unconfirmed reports that the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) might take a disciplinary action against Mercy Johnson and Patience Ozokwor but when we contacted the AGN president, Segun Arinze via SMS, he simply stated that the issue has been sorted out in-house.
The text message read “Hello sir, I just want to know if the AGN is taking any disciplinary action against Mercy Johnson and Patience Ozokwor”.
“No it’s sorted out. Thanks”, he replied. Arinze would not comment further.
Arinze, sources said, has instructed both parties not to make any further comments on the matter.