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Music industry mogul and Muthaland Entertainment founder Lance Stehr has instituted a R6.5 million defamation lawsuit against musician and reality TV star Bongani Fassie for allegations he made on his show that Stehr supplied him with cocaine.
Fassie is the protagonist of his own life story in the show, Finding Bongani Fassie, which airs on Moja Love and explores his childhood as the son of music icon Brenda Fassie.
In court papers filed by Stehr at the Johannesburg High Court on August 16, he argued that defamatory allegations came into light during episode seven of the show when Fassie had a conversation with veteran singer Mercy Pakela.
“The defendants (Bongani Fassie and Mercy Pakela), a random artist selected by the defendant and the producers of Moja Love, Siyaya TV, have never had a working relationship with the plaintiff (Lance Stehr),” read part of the papers.
The court document also included what went down in the episode as the following statements:
Mercy:
Bongani: “This is why I started snorting. Lance, didn’t you offer me my first binge of drugs? You called it splanging. Because we needed to go splanging, didn’t we?”
Stehr contended that these statements, aired on episode seven, were a culmination of views about him on previous shows that he was an “unscrupulous procurer” of drugs for musicians under his label and he was a manager who did not comply with his professional obligations.
“Beyond the false allegation that the plaintiff turned defendant on to and supplied him with cocaine, the plaintiff is characterised as an unprofessional and exploitative and criminal manager by the defendant,” read the papers
He added that episode one of the reality show started introducing the allegations made against him expressly and by innuendo.
“The way these comments are staged and edited are made to appear truthful, with no indication that these statements are allegations and unproven. The first episode saw no right of reply from Lance Stehr.”
READ: Suicide attempts, drugs and his mother's legacy – Bongani Fassie reveals all in new reality show
He further lamented that Pakela was introduced as a corroborator of Fassie’s accusations and showed that in episode two, Pakela made the following allegations:
“He is a mastermind. He is the master of drugs. He takes drugs and gives them to the children so that they don’t think properly. So, they shouldn’t use their minds to preserve their culture and know the industry’s financial side.”
He cited that the allegations levelled against him were untrue and that Pakela had never been part of his operations.
“...further lies were published in this episode with no right of reply. Bongani speaks to multiple people in the studio where he begins to spin his side of events recounting a knowingly false narrative relating to Snoop Dogg:
“I went crazy and the next thing, I woke up the next morning, I went to the show with Lance. Guess what? Bongani Fassie turns down Snoop Dogg.”
Person in the studio: “Was it Lance?”
Bongani: “Lance Stehr.”
Stehr’s claim showed that he wanted an additional R500 000 for loss of income as a result of the allegations.
Stehr told City Press that the allegations have caused pain for his family and tainted his reputation worldwide.
READ: Bongani remembers his iconic mother, Brenda ‘MaBrrr’ Fassie
“...I believe that if you are making allegations against anyone, you should be able to have proof and back it up. It seems that nowadays, people will twist the truth to either gain traction on social media without regard to real-life consequences or push a certain agenda even to gain viewers of the show. Recently, we have seen that influencers have been held accountable through the courts for what they are saying. This should be no different in my case,” he said.
Fassie told City Press to direct enquiries to Moja Love.
The channel’s spokesperson, Nonzwakazi Cekete, confirmed that she received the enquiry but had not responded before publishing.
