Entertainment of Sunday, 27 February 2011

Source: The Spectator/Ghana

Juliet Ibrahim Attack Journalists

Actress Juliet Ibrahim is obviously suffocating in her own bloated ego and self-delusion, as she launches a blistering, unprovoked attack on rival actress Roselyn Ngissah, journalist James Harry Obeng and The Spectator newspaper.

The light-skinned Lebanese turned Ghanaian actress considers herself as a much prettier and popular actress than her colleague Roselyn, so calls the decision of The Spectator to use Roselyn as its frontpage as a BIG INSULT to her image.

For The Spectator and its journalist James Harry Obeng, of the Spectator Agoro fame, the ranting 4Play actress tags a Disappointment and Miserable people, simply because they gave a front-page prominence to Roselyn, not her.

“How can you put my story in an inside page and have THAT Roselyn (Ngissah) on the front. This is an insult to me and I’m highly disappointed in you,” she ranted, top of her voice, vowing “I’ll tell everybody who calls me again on this story that I don’ know you and I didn’t even talk to you about anything.”

This is the dramatic maverick Juliet Ibrahim made of herself on Monday, when she called our Arts & Entertainment columnist Obeng to insult him for carrying a story about her upcoming wedding in an inside page and then giving a front page prominence to her rival actress Roselyn.

The actress – who once walked to the office of the columnist and pleaded to be given a front page coverage in 2009, which the editor, Merari Alomele, willfully granted- used unprintable words on the columnist and The Spectator, not appropriate for printing.

She then went ahead and unashamedly vowed to deny ever knowing the columnist or briefing her about her upcoming wedding in March, next month, forgetting even that the same journalist and newspaper even carried her story and picture on the front page for their first edition this year – the January 8-14 edition.

Much as The Spectator fraternity had welcomed this sordid development to realign its association with the actress, some film-lovers would also not understand the basis of the actress’ blistering attack on her colleague Roselyn, who she derogatorily called THAT.

Both Roselyn and Juliet (and two more others – Jackie Appiah and Yvonne Okoro) won the Best Actress (Lead Role) at the maiden Ghana Movie Awards held during Christmas, last year. Both are currently involved in a stalemate over how to ‘share’ a car that they were given as their prize for the award.

It is, therefore, not clear yet, whether the attack is her (Juliet) latest approach to taunt off Roselyn from the car sharing deadlock, which now excludes Jackie Appiah who has already backed out.

This is not the first time Juliet has insulted a journalist in this country for a similar ‘offence.’ Last year, she allegedly vented similar rudeness on Mustapha ‘Attractive’ Ayinde, of both Flex newspaper and ghanamovie.net, who also carried a story about her on the back page of the Flex.

Juliet Ibrahim, in the company of her mum Elizabeth and sister Sonia, made a donation to the Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital in Accra last week Monday, February 14, as her way of celebrating the Valentine’s Day.

Our columnist, as well as two other journalists – Chris Twum (the Ghanaian Chronicle) and Reagan Odei Ofosu (Flex) – was invited to cover for their respective media. After the donation, the actress briefed the three journalists about her upcoming wedding slated for March.

In doing the story, James Harry Obeng married the two reports – the donation and the wedding – and gave it the caption Juliet Plans Mega White Wedding … Donates to kids hospital. The story was published in the last week (February 19) issue of The Spectator.

Juliet has since found no ‘problem’ with the story, in terms of factual inaccuracies and grammatical errors, among others, except that picture Roselyn and Henry Harding, popularly known as Papa Nii Osofagus (whose story was carried on page 22), were captured on the front page and not hers.

As to how she has since registered no dislike for the photo of Henry Harding, also provides more room for suspicion, if not ill-will, against Roselyn. The Spectator has in its possession a 44-minute recording of the telephone conversation, which though does not cover the entire conversation.

In the said recording, a ranting Juliet boasts and makes allusions to how she “even couldn’t get a copy of your paper to buy the other day because you put me and my husband on the front… Now you’re disgracing me and putting somebody over me and putting my better story in inside page… In fact this a BIG insult… and I don’t know what to tell my husband.”

For the sake of the records, The Spectator has Never carried on its front page a photo of the actress and her hubby. Rather, it has on several occasions published her stories and photos (either alone or in the company colleague actors) on front page, since June 13 2009.

None of the said front pages, including the countless number of ‘inside page’ stories, was paid for, as she could testify without any such mischief.

We wish her well!