You just can’t go through the industry without being s*xually harassed – Colette Orji

Colette Orji came into the industry a few years ago but already she has a profile that would bedazzle any producer. Beautiful, talented and sexy but most people who have met Colette keep talking about her magnetic backside which tends to sing a song many could not help but follow. She has several claims to stardom and they include “Strength of a Woman”, “Blue Blood”, “Raindrop”, “Two Can Play That Game”, “Amaka Mustapha” and a host of others. In this interview with Showtime, the Enugu and Abuja based Thespian opened a can of worms on the happenings in the movie industry. Enjoy:
There’s always this issue of sexual harassment in the industry. Have you ever encountered such?
I think the answer to that is yes. If somebody tells you they have never faced sexual harassment in the industry, it is either they are lying or they don’t want to open up to the press because you guys may blow it out of proportion. You just can’t go through the industry without being sexually harassed.
Nobody really comes to you to harass you but there are things you would realise you are not getting because you are not willing to play some balls. Like me, nobody pushed me around but you know this thing would be like this if you do like that. So, if you are like, I don’t want to do like this, take it and go or you are like, lets do it and see how it goes.
I’m telling you the truth. It is there. Right now as I am speaking to you, I’m praying for those coming into the industry. It’s five times worse than what it was. The industry is in a chaotic situation. I cannot even discuss some of the things going on now. It’s sinful, it’s sin at its highest order.
Just how chaotic is it?
What is happening now is that marketers don’t even pay them any more. What you have to do now is probably go and screw some rich guys to get money to come and pay the marketer to feature in their films. During that time, you feed yourself, pay your own hotel bills and even costume yourself.
Before I came to Nollywood I wasn’t aware of all these things. I was very young, I didn’t know that kind of thing could be happening. But now the girls coming in know that shit happens and they are prepared for shit before coming in. Already they have the mindset for it and maybe that’s cool but for me I didn’t know.
So, have you dated anyone in the industry?
Yes, I have had a relationship within the industry
Can we know the person?
No. I can’t tell you the name of the person but he is not an actor. He is a person who works behind the cameras.
So, what happened to the relationship?
He is a really big producer and at a time I thought I couldn’t stand the competition any more. Everybody wanted him for different reasons. Sometimes we would be together and his phone would beep and it was an alert that so and so have paid money into his account for a role in his upcoming movie. The girls were really doing everything to get his attention. If he said he needed a Blackberry phone like 5 would just appear in no time.
It was too much for me. He would bring someone into a film we were about to shot and I knew for a fact that person paid him. It was too much and these people knew you knew and they would be fighting and attacking you at every chance they got. I had to let him go because everybody wanted him and they were ready to do anything to get him.