For the better part of this year, 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 continues to blossom
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 grew, and more people now knew about me. I received numerous interview opportunities and brand endorsements.
This is not the first time I have faced cyberbullying. I faced it with the Utawezana moment, and I was just 19. Looking back, I believe I am highly favoured. I am glad I have a strong system.
Before the fame, I lived in a one-bedroom that was like a hall. All it had was a gas cooker, fridge, microwave and a mattress.
Becoming famous wasn’t a shocker to me. I had always known and said I would be big, that I would be on TV and all that. What I didn't know was when and how it would happen. Even before Utawezana, I already had over 500,0000 followers on TikTok and 30,000 on Instagram.
Adjusting to that fame was tricky, because I could no longer walk on the streets or eat at my favourite kibandaski.
Content Creator and business person Azziad Nasenya.
There is a narrative that when you're big, you get celebrity treatment and many free things. Well, even with things that look like they have been given to me for free, there is always some 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…but things like connections, you know.
But it (fame) 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 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 don’t even know well.
After two years of cyberbullying, I got into depression. These days, I rarely care what anyone thinks of me. There is nothing new I haven’t been told. I have been killed, accused and even threatened.
I lost a lot of relationships and opportunities in 2024, but I do not look at it as a loss, but as something that wasn’t meant to be.
A big chunk of my followers are women, and you would expect that they would support me when I’m going through something, but the majority of them are the ones wearing me down. Women are jealous creatures.
