Real Warri Pikin Apologises to Husband After Viral Timaya Stage Moment at AFRIMMA
Nigerian comedian and actress Anita Asuoha, popularly known as Real Warri Pikin, has apologised to her husband, Ikechukwu, and to fans following backlash over a viral video showing singer Timaya lifting her on stage during his performance at the 2026 African Muzik Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) in Dallas, Texas.
The incident occurred on Saturday, September 12, at the AFRIMMA festival, where Real Warri Pikin was honoured with the Best Stand-Up Comedian award and Timaya was among the Nigerian artistes performing at the event. A video from the event showed the comedian joining Timaya on stage during his performance of his hit song “Ukwu,” a routine in which the singer typically invites a female fan on stage, before he was seen lifting her off the ground as part of the act. The clip quickly went viral, with some social media users criticising the interaction as inappropriate given that Real Warri Pikin is married, with a number of commenters urging her to reconsider her marriage over the incident.
Responding to the backlash in a video statement shared on Sunday, Real Warri Pikin explained that she had been backstage enjoying Timaya’s performance when he called for a woman in the audience to join him during the song, and that she responded instinctively in the excitement of the moment without fully considering what would follow. According to her, she became visibly reluctant once she realised Timaya intended to lift her, and could be seen pleading with him not to go through with it in the full video of the incident. She said she ultimately went along with the routine after the singer urged her not to disrupt his performance.
The comedian also addressed criticism directed at her marriage, pushing back against social media users who suggested she should leave her husband over the episode. She said she remained firmly committed to her marriage and questioned where critics expected her to go, describing herself as happily and firmly married. She went on to acknowledge that her husband was unhappy about the viral moment, noting that being in the United States at the time made it more difficult to address the matter with him directly, while stressing that the incident did not reflect her true character. She ultimately took full responsibility for her actions, offering a heartfelt yet good-humoured apology to both her husband and to Nigerians who felt disappointed by the episode, while maintaining that her stage appearance had been entirely spontaneous rather than pre-planned.
Neither her husband nor Timaya had publicly commented on the controversy as of the time of reporting. The pair have been married for more than a decade and have continued to publicly support one another, including sharing moments highlighting their relationship on previous occasions. Pulling a woman from the audience and lifting her during “Ukwu” has become a recurring feature of some of Timaya’s live performances, a routine that has produced viral moments in the past.
The controversy comes shortly after another career milestone for Real Warri Pikin, who had earlier in the year taken her “In My Element” comedy tour to cities including Dallas and Houston, continuing to build her audience in the United States alongside her established career in Nigeria.
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