Ashmusy shares her side on Phyna drama

Content creator and social media star, Amarachi Amusi, known as Ashmusy, has talked about her online clash with Big Brother Naija star, Phyna. She said she never meant to betray her colleague and feels she was wrongly seen as the bad guy in the situation.

In an interview with Saturday Beats, Ashmusy explained how she got involved in a celebrity boxing event. She was unsure about joining but the matter led to her public fallout with Phyna.

Phyna accused Ashmusy of stopping communication after suggesting her as an opponent for the event. She claimed Ashmusy asked the organisers to remove her from the match.

But Ashmusy denied trying to sabotage Phyna. She said she was unsure about joining the boxing event from the start. She was on holiday in Japan when she first heard about the boxing show but didn’t give it much thought because she was busy.

Phyna later contacted her to encourage her to join the event. Ashmusy said, “I told her I wasn’t sure, but several times in the chat, I told her, ‘I am in. Let’s do it,’ just to go with the flow because I was very busy at the time. She was convincing me. I hadn’t looked too deeply into it, but in my head, I knew I wasn’t sure. Hence, the contract they sent to me was delayed. I never sent back a signed contract till date.”

She mentioned that she talked with a representative from the organisers about picking another opponent because she wasn’t comfortable with the match. “We went on a group call with the company and one of the representatives of the organisers. She was following up with me, and I then asked to speak with her. After so much back and forth, I got back to her and said, ‘I am not sure I want to do this fight o, but is it allowed to choose somebody I match with to fight? To choose somebody else that I think my physical fragility matches with?’”

Ashmusy said she was not told that choosing someone else would affect Phyna’s chance to fight. “This person didn’t inform me that if I picked someone else to fight, it meant Phyna would have to step down or Phyna’s own fight would be delayed. I had no idea. I wasn’t informed. In my head, it was like a full day where you could have plenty of boxing matches,” she explained.

She added that she felt pressure to find an opponent while trying to manage a busy schedule. “I was in communication with the lady because she was pressuring me, asking, ‘What’s up with my match?’ She would say, ‘You are the one delaying us o. Let’s make payment this week,’ etc. It was just like that. It was a bit disorganised because I was busy.”

Things got worse when Phyna went live on social media. This led to a lot of backlash from the public. “Three different live videos were posted on her page. I started being bashed online and being called all sorts of names. And I had worked really hard, personally and brand-wise, to get to the point where I am with my brand this year, without any scandal or bashing.

“Experiencing that really broke me and hurt me in ways I cannot explain because I had worked too hard to avoid it. I am no longer in that space anymore. It really hurt.”

Ashmusy claimed some of the chats that went around during the drama were edited. She admitted that she had not seen all the messages. “I didn’t see those chats, but I believe those chats were doctored because the one Phyna showed me had misrepresentation in it. That was the only one I saw on her DM. I didn’t check her story for the sake of my mental health.”

Later, Ashmusy thought about the situation and decided to remove the representative, Teddy, from the picture. “After some days, I reflected. I took Teddy out of the picture because, before then, she was the one blocking my view. I was hurt and pained that she threw me under the bus. I thought she had communicated with Phyna.

“After I took her out of the picture, I could clearly see the full picture.” Ashmusy said this helped her understand Phyna’s feelings and take responsibility for her own role in the issue.

“I realised, looking at it from the perspective I just explained, that Phyna must be really hurt. But, that was not my intention.”

Ashmusy tried to settle things privately after receiving what she called death threats. “I reached out to the company because I was getting death threats. I also reached out to Phyna to see how we could fix things online, but everybody kept declining. I was painted as the villain, and nobody wanted to come forward or put out a press release.”

Despite the drama, Ashmusy said she never meant to betray Phyna. She revealed that they had made some progress in resolving their issues. “I spoke with Phyna and we sort of reconciled, but on the internet, I am being painted as the evil one.”

Looking back on the situation, Ashmusy said she learned to be more careful in her dealings. “Whatever the case may be, I have learnt my lesson. I will watch my steps more, and every damage will be fixed, with God on our side.”