Famous Nollywood actress and filmmaker, Mercy Aigbe has narrated how her sexual harassment experience almost cost her career in the movie industry.
In a recent interview with ‘Your View’ on TVC, Mercy Aigbe recalled how she had auditioned for a role with a producer who offered her a minor role instead of the one she had auditioned for.
When she questioned this, the producer said she needed to be close to him to be considered for the role she had originally wanted.
She said,
“I once met a producer in Surulere, and I expressed to him how much I would love to act. He told me he had an upcoming film, and invited me to his office for an audition. I passed three stages of the audition. After the last audition, I was given a minor role. I told him that was not the character I was auditioning for, and he replied that the director said he did not know me, and that was why he said I should be close to him (the producer).”
Mercy Aigbe felt this was inappropriate and that she was being sexually harassed.
She narrated how the producer tried to touch her inappropriately and how she reacted by ripping up the script and leaving the office in tears.
She said she felt disrespected and that this experience made her question whether she wanted to be an actress anymore.
She explained that she had left a well-paying job to pursue her dream of acting and was a single mother at the time, so this incident was a major setback for her.
She recalled,
“He had been making passes at me before then, but he did not come out clean to me until that day. He then stood up and tried to touch me. I was very upset, and I told him he could not do that to me because I had earned the role.