In recent days, content creator and actress Azziad Nasenya, who shot to fame in 2020, has found herself trending for the wrong reasons. From reports of her palatial Sh20 million Nairobi apartment being auctioned over mortgage debts to claims that she borrowed from friends to sustain a lavish lifestyle and later struggled to repay, the narratives have been coming thick and fast.
Still, Azziad insists she continues to blossom, no matter how bad people want to see her fall.
I never made a cent directly from the Utawezana Challenge (that catapulted me to fame). But that moment changed my life. My social media following base grew, and more people now knew about me. I've received numerous interviews and brand endorsements. Sometimes it takes a certain moment for you to be exposed for people to realise your talent.
Actress Azziad Nasenya.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
This is not the first time that I have faced cyberbullying. I faced that with the Utawezana moment, and I was just a 19-year-old girl. That is why, sometimes when I look back at my successes, I can't make sense of everything. I believe I am highly favoured,d and I am glad that I have such a strong system.
At the time, before all the fame and all that, I lived in a one-bedroom that was literally empty. All it had was a gas cooker, fridge, microwave and a mattress. Given how empty it was, it was more like a hall.
Becoming famous wasn’t a shocker to me, for anyone who has known me for a long time knows I always said I am going to be big, I will be on TV and all that. What I didn't know is when and how that will happen, so when I went viral with Utawezana, it was’t really a shocker moment to me. I mean, before utawezana, I already had over 500,0000 followers on my TikTok and 30,000 on Instagram. I had already built myself an audience.
What was tricky for me was adjusting to that fame, because I could no longer live my life as before. I could no longer walk on the streets, or go to eat at my favourite kibandaski and things like that. Not that I can’t its just that circumstances have made such moments difficult.
There is a narrative that when you're big, you get celebrity treatment, such as free things. Well, I don't get free things, and even those that look like they have been given to me for free, there is always some sort of conditional attachment to them. And when you look at it, you realise you are the one getting the bad side of the deal. But there are favour packs you get to enjoy when you are a celebrity. It could not necessarily be free things, but things like connections, you know.
But the downside, it could get crazy. You wake up one day, and there is so much news about you that you don't have a clue or idea about. I once woke up to news that I had died in a road accident, and the video had millions of views. I had to report it so many times for it to be pulled down.
I find it very weird that I never get this much hate when I meet people in person. In person, everybody loves you, but then you go online, and the hate is too much. I have never comprehended why someone would have such a strong opinion about someone they event dont know that well.
The first two years of being cyberbullied had me get into depression. These days, I rarelly dont care about what anyone thinks of me. It takes a lot to get under my skin. I developed crocodile skin. I am at a point in my life where there is nothing new I haven't been told. I have been killed, accused and even threatened.
With everything that has happened to me in 2025, I have lost a lot. A lot of relationships, a lot of friendships, a lot of opportunities. But I do not look at all that as a loss, but as something that was meant to be.
A big chunk of the demographic that follows me are women, and you would expect that they would support you when you are going through a strong season, instead majority of them were the ones tiring me down. Women are jealous creatures.
