Afrobeats star Davido threatens legal action over fake drug arrest story on April Fools' Day
Afrobeats star Davido says he will take legal action against a Kenyan news station for publishing a false story about him on April Fools' Day.
The musician took to X, formerly Twitter, to call out "media parties" for publishing an article that claimed he had been arrested by police with cocaine present at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The article, published by TV station K24, no longer appears to be online as of Thursday.
Davido, 31, wrote Tuesday that the article "led to a barrage of calls."
"I want to assure my fans that these reports are entirely untrue," he said. "I successfully completed my scheduled shows in Uganda and Kenya and have since returned home to Nigeria."
The Grammy-nominated singer said he has "never been arrested by anyone in any country for any crime in the world."
He continued: "I find the fabrication of allegations of such international crimes extremely irresponsible regardless of the light of 'April Fools.'"
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Kenya's directorate of criminal investigations addressed the article on X, labeling the article "fake news."
USA TODAY has reached out to K24 and Davido's reps for comment.
According to an archived version of the article, K24 made false claims about the "Unavailable" singer and his crew's arrest, including that he was accused of hiding large quantities of cocaine on his private jet, with fabricated quotes from the actual head of Kenya's anti-narcotics police unit, Maju Nyawawa.
Davido was in Kenya over the weekend to perform at Raha Fest in Nairobi.
The article later falsely claimed that other celebrities were seen using "illicit substances" at the festival, which led to complaints.
Later, the news station updated the article with a disclaimer: "This article is fictitious and only meant for April Fool's (sic) Day. Are you fooled?"