AKA’s battles far from over – SABC vows never to work with him again

Rapper AKA, whose real name is Kiernan Forbes, may have given the airing of the second season of The Braai Show the green light, but his fight with the producers continues.

Forbes last week applied for an urgent interdict at the Johannesburg High Court to halt the SABC, in conjunction with production companies Makhuducom Media and Cake Media, from airing the show’s second season.

This week, he agreed to a request from the production companies to withdraw the application in favour of settling the matter out of court.

However, the meeting of the parties failed to result in an amicable resolution.

According to a source close to the All Eyes on Me hitmaker, his demands – which allegedly included a R5 million settlement – were not met, resulting in a stalemate.

A brief statement yesterday from his management company, The T Effect, confirmed that there was no deal in place.

The statement read:
The negotiations collapsed as Forbes’ demands were not met. To the extent that Forbes’ ownership and entitlements remain fully intact, the airing of the show will continue as he proceeds to enforce his rights through the prescribed channels.

In his court application last week, Forbes declared that all means for an out-of-court settlement between the parties had been exhausted. He stated that if the show was aired on the scheduled date, he would be adversely prejudiced financially and the move would constitute a breach of a 50/50 copyright partnership agreement with himself, Makhuducom Media and Cake Media.

Forbes attributed the squabble to a personal tragedy that he experienced in April, prompting him to take a sabbatical from all his work commitments.

However, the SABC and the two production companies had held negotiations with him in February to produce and host the second season of the show.

Forbes further claimed that after allegations surfaced that he had been abusive towards his late fiancée, Anele Tembe, the SABC had indicated that it would no longer work with him.

“What then happened during July 2021, and without my knowledge, was that the third respondent [Cake Media] – notwithstanding my desire to take personal time off on account of the personal tragedy that befell me in April 2021, and (I assume) alongside the first respondent [the SABC] as the distributor of The Braai Show – approached various persons, including a musician named Refiloe Phoolo (popularly known as Cassper Nyovest) and they agreed that he would take over as host of the show.

“It is apposite to mention that, at this stage, it was my understanding that Cake Media was also uncertain of the future of The Braai Show. However, to all intents and purposes, further discussions were to be held with me regarding the same, so it is confusing to me what ultimately happened thereafter,” read his court papers.

According to the documents, Cake Media’s services were solicited for filming and distribution through a cession agreement with Makhuducom Media.

However, Forbes was singing a different tune yesterday, confirming that the show would be screened and encouraging viewers to watch it.

His statement reads:
Forbes and his management encourage all South Africans to watch and support the show which he co-created, as its success will be of great benefit to him financially and otherwise.

The SABC also confirmed that the show would be aired as planned from September 8.

“The SABC can confirm that the urgent application by Kiernan Forbes to prevent the SABC from broadcasting the upcoming programme, The Braai Show, has been withdrawn and the public service broadcaster will proceed with broadcasting the show on Wednesday, September 8,” said Gugu Ntuli, SABC’s group executive for corporate affairs and marketing.

The production companies also confirmed that the show would hit TV screens soon.

“As previously stated, The Braai Show with Cassper is going ahead as planned. We’ll be announcing the guest line-up in a few days, so watch this space,” said Cake Media’s David Phume, the executive producer of the show.