Seun Kuti has shared a controversial perspective about his father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, stating that the late icon did not restrict his wives from having relationships with other men.
Speaking during an Instagram livestream, Seun addressed allegations made by a woman who claimed Fela should not be celebrated because he allegedly infected his wives with HIV and later died of AIDS.
In response, Seun suggested that his father was not responsible for spreading the disease, implying instead that one of the wives may have contracted it elsewhere and brought it into the household.
He further explained that Fela’s approach to relationships was unconventional, noting that he allowed his wives the same freedom he exercised, rather than enforcing traditional expectations of exclusivity.
Seun added that one of his father’s major mistakes was not adopting a more traditional stance that required his wives to remain solely committed to him.
He said, “Fela made many mistakes. One of the mistakes he made – one day, I saw a video of a lady online saying why are people praising Fela’s legacy despite him giving women HIV and dying of AIDS.
“I said, ‘Oh, Fela you see yourself?’ If Fela was a traditional man, he would still be alive. I will tell you something about him that you might not have known, Fela’s women all had other men.
“Fela did not keep his women to himself. He believed that as he is free to sleep with all the women, the women are also free to meet other men. His law was that they shouldn’t bring the men to his house.
“My father doesn’t leave his house to sleep with other women outside, so it was his women who brought HIV home to him. Nobody is perfect. Everybody make mistakes. But Fela is a man that is on the side of humanity.”
See video below..