It seems hell hath no fury like a scorned woman with a Facebook account, especially when there’s a famous name involved.
More and more these days social media is being used to publish sordid details of skelme relationships gone awry, seemingly to humiliate the man as much as possible.
The latest celeb to get themselves entangled in such a messy triangle is the local rapper Riyadh Roberts, better known as YoungstaCPT.
I’ve been watching this young man’s star rise higher and higher over the years and I have been impressed with how he has been able to tap into Cape Town’s zeitgeist – the defining mood of the times we are living in.
And while rap has never really been my thing, I do recognise it as the poetic social commentary of the youth.
But that’s beside the point.
What I really want to talk about is how YoungstaCPT was exposed by a woman who claims she had been having a skelme affair with him for years, while he was in a long-standing relationship.
She doesn’t say how or why the relationship ended in 2019, but she does mention a few things which can’t be construed for anything other than an attempt to publicly humiliate him.
Like an embarrassing reference to his private parts, the fact that he doesn’t own a car, can’t drive and still lives with his mother.
The first he can’t do anything about, and the rest are nothing to be ashamed about.
At 29 years old, he is still young and working hard at making an honest success of his life.
Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about the real story here.
According to YoungstaCPT’s accuser, she exposed him so she could “heal properly”.
Maybe I don’t get the digital world of millennials, but I struggle to understand how publically exposing someone for something you had a hand in, is contributing to your healing.
Would talking about it to a group of your friends not have had the same effect?
In fact, I reckon surrounding yourself with your besties and revealing the secret affair, would have spared you the hateful backlash you suffered on social media.
You guys could even have had a hearty giggle about those “embarrassing” things you told the world about YoungstaCPT.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with what he allegedly did.
This is not an attempt to defend his alleged actions, any more than I would defend hers for willingly having a secret affair with someone whom she knew was in a relationship.
The old people mos say: “It takes two to tango.”
Rather I am questioning the wisdom of airing her dirty laundry on a public platform like Instagram – details which are ultimately private and personal.
Like in the case of Katlego Maboe (whose actions I also don’t condone), I can’t help but think that these public exposures are less healing, and more bitter and vindictive attempts at destroying people’s lives and their incomes.
By the way, how will Katlego support his son, if he can no longer earn a living?
Personally I don’t care what sort of relationship you were in.
I don’t even judge a woman who willingly chooses to be a side chick.Just accept that he is probably not going to leave his wife and that all relationships have issues.
Some we bring upon ourselves through bad choices, while others are due to no fault of our own.
But anything short of abuse, the details and memories should be kept private and possibly even treasured.
Learn from the mistakes, move on and do better next time.
Allow for growth in others who may have wronged you.
But I can never accept that you will now destroy someone, whom you once claimed to have loved so dearly.
Speaking badly of your ex is nothing new, and some people deserve the bad reputation.
But social media has become a weapon of mass destruction for celebs who make bad relationship choices, even though those choices are as old as the hills.
The difference is when millennials are involved, there’s a very good chance they will use it to get “likes,” which is worth more to them than integrity.
You should want nothing but the best heath, wealth and happiness for the people you have loved.
And try to conduct your relationships in such a way that they wish the same for you.
Exposing secret affairs online is just as bad as the jolling.