Undoubtedly the most intelligent, analytical, and objective entertainment pundit in the Ghanaian entertainment industry, unfortunately, gets the most attacks from the very people he works with. Since Arnold began his appearance on the UTV Entertainment show and Peace FM’s entertainment review on Saturdays, he has come under several attacks from other guests on the show.
On 15 Feb 2021, Guru was a guest on the Peace FM Entertainment show with Arnold as a pundit. When it got to Arnold’s turn to make a statement, he said to Guru “you are not on top”. The artiste (Guru) was not happy with what Arnold said, hence began to counter vehemently. There were lots of exchanges and the argument became so heated that the host had to pause on several occasions just for things to cool off a bit.
On one occasion on UTV’s Entertainment show, there was another heavy feud and exchanges between Arnold and the SM boss (Shatta Wale) about the former calling the SM boss ”the most inconsistent and confused artist in Ghana”. This obviously did not go down well with the SM boss so it sparked a heavy controversy between the two. However, Arnold was able to gently diffuse the situation with counter-arguments systematically to make his point clear.
Recently on the UTV entertainment show, there was also a banter between himself (Arnold) and Big Akwes, and as if to put the icing on the cake, the show was not even over when Prophet Kumchacha also took his turn in banter with the Entertainment journalist. It is as though some of the guests come in prepared to pick a swipe at the journalist (Arnold).
The first accusation from big Akwes was a comment Arnold made about Sarkodie’s statement pointing to pundits and presenters in general. Akwes accused Arnold of calling Sarkodie unintelligent which Arnold debunked and clarified what he said ”Sarkodie could have found a more intelligent way” of saying what he said. Then big Akwes made another allegation that Arnold made a statement about his person which was insulting.
Again Arnold debunked it as being false. Then big Akwes had nothing substantial to say other than go on a rant. While Arnold stayed calm throughout the rant, Big Akwes kept on and on making empty and unsubstantiated attacks.
Then prophet Kumchacha took his turn accusing Arnold of passing a “derogatory” comment about his presidential ambition and even dared to hit the journalist in his face.
In all of these, Arnold who is known to be a very cool, calm, and collected individual beautifully articulated his point to the admiration of most viewers and even to his own attackers right on the show: “Big Akwes and Prophet Kumchacha”.
Could this be a worrying trend that signifies a problem with the pundit (Arnold) being overly critical, or is there a problem in general with the Entertainment industry?
Perhaps some of the artistes and celebrities ignore or are totally unsure of the role each stakeholder plays in the industry and lash out unnecessarily at other players? Is it that they do not like objectivity or they cannot take criticism? Artistes and celebrities could be advised by their management that there are professional journalists like Arnold who would talk about and dissect topics that concern them whether they like it or not. Is it unfortunate that the most intelligent pundit gets most of the attacks?
Writer: Kasad3
Photo Credit: UTV
