Celebrity rivalry: Friends then foes

Bahati & Willy Paul

The two youngsters were bred in Mathare slums but dreamt big as teenagers. And, thankfully, both lived up to their dreams as they bagged the most coveted awards in East Africa back to back. The two were off to a blazing start. They believed in each other and even at some point, revealed they once wrote music together.

This was until their fame and money happened. It is at this point that allegedly competition and hatred creeped in and rocked their boat. The once vibrant gospel crusaders were sent into a tussle of ‘who was better’ both in the booth and on the stage. Their fans lashed out at each other and each wanted to perform last whenever they appeared together.

In no time, they couldn’t be contained in the same concert. Willy Paul, at some point, revealed that their beef was a creation of the media and that it was fuelled by their fans. But after that their rift has continued to play out on social media.

In 2021, Willy Paul widened it farther when he made online claims about being in a romantic relationship with Bahati’s wife, Diana, before she married him, something that rubbed Bahati the wrong way. On March 5, 2024, Willy Paul was seen pulling into the Kiambu Law Courts in his white Mercedes Benz to answer to charges levelled against him by rapper Diana Bahati.

This happened following a dramatic arrest a day earlier at his Syokimau home. Reports at first revealed that the arrest was related to allegations of a hit-and-run accident as well as his involvement in the controversial story surrounding Diana Marua.

According to Caroline Giseve, a lawyer representing musician Diana Bahati, Willy Paul was arrested on cyberbullying charges. Giseve informed reporters that the arrest was authorised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions after Willy Paul repeatedly failed to appear despite multiple summonses.

Nicki Minaj & Megan Thee Stallion

In 2019, Meg Thee Stallion featured Nicki Minaj on her “Hot Girl Summer” track and it seemed like Nicki had taken on role of big sister. However, barely a year later she got on Cardi B’s monster jam “WAP” and Nicki took it very personally that she worked with her arch-nemesis. Rappers who’ve held hands now do not see eye to eye.

Megan Thee Stallion released her stinging song “Hiss” a month ago, a punchy diss track that takes aim at the haters and critics she’s encountered throughout her career. She mentioned Mariah Carey and Kris Jenner in jest on the track, while appearing to make pointed references to Drake and her ex-boyfriend, Tory Lanez.

But her words stung for Nicki Minaj. “Hiss” made waves throughout the rap community and ignited a social media firestorm with the Barbz (Nicki’s fans) claiming Megan directly insulted her on the track. Nicki, who released her Pink Friday 2 album nearly two months ago, has been one of the most vocal critics of Megan’s song, going as far as to record her own response diss track called “Big Foot.” She threatened to release more songs that aim to damage Megan’s career unless she apologises for what she said on “Hiss.”

Milly Chebby & Jackie Matubia

Milly Chebby and Jackie Matubia used to be Best Friends Forever (BFFs) until they had an ugly fallout and started throwing subliminal shots at each other. They, however refused to disclose the reasons behind the fall out.

Their fans noticed all was not well between Milly and Jackie after the latter was conspicuously missing at Milly’s and Terence Creative’s traditional wedding held in Eldoret last year. “You didn’t go to your best friend’s wedding?” a fan asked Jackie on social media. “Can’t you see me here? Why ask when there’s already an answer?” she answered.

“Why are you defending yourself?” another fan asked. “Why should I defend myself when people have already said I have a bad heart and no husband?” Jackie responded. Weeks later, the two unfollowed each other on social media.

Milly, when responding to a fan's inquiry about the unfollowing claimed that she was not aware that she had been unfollowed. Their fans hope a truce is cooking but the two have remained mum on ever walking together again.

Migos

As a duo Takeoff and Quavo, teamed up with rapper Offset to create one of the 2010’s biggest hip hop groups. The group rose to prominence following the release of the single “Versace” which went viral.

However, the group ultimately went their separate ways after rumours of betrayal and rifts. The group hit the top of the US charts in 2016 with their huge hit single “Bad and Boujee”. They also went on to collaborate with rappers Nick Minaj and Cardi B, with Cardi B marrying member Offset in 2017. However, the cracks started to show in the group in 2022.

Rumours began swirling that Saweetie, the former girlfriend of Quavo, had cheated on her then-boyfriend with his bandmate Offset. Fans speculated that the band had become a duo featuring only Quavo and Takeoff. This was later confirmed when the duo released their first album together in October 2022.

Additionally, Offset went on to unfollow his previous bandmates on social media after the pair announced their new musical venture without him and left the Migos name behind. The alleged affair was never officially confirmed by any member of Migos.

Despite this, Quavo released a single titled “Messy”, with some fans deducing that his lyrics spoke about Saweetie cheating on him with Offset.