Nairobi News

Celebrated radio king Shaffie Weru has finally opened up about the reason behind his much-publicized layoff from Homeboyz Radio. 

The renowned radio host was last year in March fired from Radio Africa-owned radio station Homeboyz Radio alongside radio presenter Neville and DJ Joe Mfalme over insensitive remarks.

Speaking exclusively to Nairobi News, the veteran media personality revealed that he was fired not necessarily because of his blunt commentary but rather something deeper and much more complicated. 

“The reason I was fired you need to understand was never about the tweets or the people, it was about the companies that were spending money on me because I was a very big presenter. Their customers were the ones attacking me, so they also started attacking the companies,” Shaffie revealed.

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He added by saying;

“That was the reason why my firing was effected. It was not because of what I said.”

Taking it back to where it all started, the radio presenter narrated the events leading up to the unfortunate turn of events.

“When Covid came, one of my star presenters GMoney contracted the virus and someone needed to step in because we were short-staffed. At the time I was the head of Homeboyz radio as we were trying to re-acquire it from Homeboyz Entertainment to Radio Africa, and then the story happened,” he said.

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He went on to reveal that he got fired just two days after he had made a radio comeback following a year-and-a-half mainstream media hiatus.

“It actually happened two days after I got back on radio. I had not been on mainstream radio for like a year and a half, since 2020. Now in 2021 when I got back and did the breakfast show with DJ Joe Mfalme and Neville, that’s when I got fired,” said Shaffie.

“My big mouth and overzealous opinion caught up with me,” he added.

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The father of two disclosed that the situation really got to him as he was on the verge of sinking into depression. He opened up about how he felt destabilized, considering he had given close to two decades of his life to mainstream radio only for it to be abruptly stripped away from him.

“It has never happened to me before and it honestly destabilized me because you know we got fired like at midnight on Twitter. I was just chilling when I was told that this is what’s going down. I didn’t see it coming because by the time I had left, I was only suspended and I knew it would die down, but it was bigger than that,” he revealed.

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Speaking about how he could battle the times of adversity following his setback, Shaffie greatly praised his friends and family for having been there for him, which helped him slowly get back on his feet.

“I had very solid friends because even when I got fired we were just chilling. It affected me more emotionally than physically but my friends were very supportive,” he said.

Thinking back to how things turned out, Shaffie expressed his regrets saying he wishes he was more informed of the subject matter because he meant no harm.

“I wish I had been more informed and woke to that particular situation and moment because a lot was happening at that time and people were going through a lot with covid, jobs being lost, and salaries being slashed. My only regret is that I was not able to remove myself from that particular moment, and not having read the room,”

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He added that if he genuinely had the wrong intentions at heart, he would have probably gotten fired a long time ago because he is not one to hold back an opinion.

“I am a people person. If I was going to get fired it would have happened a long time ago there’s no way I would have stayed in radio for 17 years,”

On matters suing his former employer Radio Africa Group for termination of his contract, Shaffie revealed that they had buried the hatchet. However, the case is still in court.

“It’s funny because Radio Africa and I are very cool right now, I have even been to their offices several times, and the company I’m working with, Roya is in business with them. But the court case is still going on, they have been in communication with my lawyers trying to align on matters of settling the case in court.”

“I don’t know how that is going because I am not following up, my lawyer is handling it,” he added.

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