Comedian AY Makun recently spoke about the origin of his 17-year feud with fellow comedian Basketmouth during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo. AY recounted how Basketmouth used to connect him with events when he was starting out in the comedy industry, and how one particular event sparked the rift.
According to AY, he attended an event, but the organizers had expected Basketmouth to perform instead. AY wasn’t paid and had to reach out to Basketmouth, who claimed the organizers hadn’t paid him. However, AY discovered that payment had already been made before the event, and the organizers were not happy to see him. AY recounted that the payment of N30,000 at the time was crucial to his livelihood, as it covered basic expenses such as food, phone credit, and fuel for his generator.
“When I got this job and the people weren’t too happy to see me because they were expecting Basketmouth to come… Two weeks running, I hadn’t seen N30,000. Because I didn’t see the N30,000, I was starving in Iponri,” AY said during the interview.
AY said he contacted both parties to ask about the payment, which led to a fight and ultimately caused the feud between the two comedians. He shared that he was not at odds with Basketmouth before this incident.
Basketmouth has previously argued that AY “messed with loyalty” and that the incident caused the rift between them. During an interactive session with fans on Instagram in 2022, AY claimed that Basketmouth has a superiority complex.
The two comedians confirmed that they were not on speaking terms in 2021 when they were spotted avoiding each other in public. Despite this, AY has shared that he holds no grudges and hopes to make peace with Basketmouth.
“It is a journey in life. As you grow up, you will always have one or two people that you would say, oh this person hurt me. It is only God that has not hurt me. I am not holding any grudges,” AY said in a recent interview with Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.
The feud between AY and Basketmouth has been ongoing for 17 years, but it remains to be seen if the two comedians will be able to reconcile and move on from their past differences.
