Cape Town - Rapper Kiernan “AKA” Forbes has said he’s taking a break from public appearances and live performances and will not take part in the upcoming Huawei Joburg Day event.
AKA’s fiancée, Anele “Nellie” Tembe died last month after she fell from the 10th floor of a hotel in Cape Town - the incident is still under investigation.
Via a statement from his PR team, the popular musician has confirmed that he would not be performing at events in the near future saying: “The hip hop megastar has elected to take a step back from the musical eventing space because he is currently in a space where he feels it is necessary to place a greater emphasis on looking after his emotional and physical well-being.”
Video footage emerged on social media this week of an incident that had taken place in March where AKA can be seen breaking down a door to reach an emotionally distressed Tembe.
The musician has denied the allegations levelled against him that he was abusive and, in a statement, at the weekend said that he had: “enjoyed a beautiful yet challenging relationship that at times was tumultuous, like all relationships”.
The social media campaign #MuteAKA is gaining momentum. In his latest statement, the musician’s PR team alludes to social media pressure saying: “out of respect for (the) current social conversation about him , in the public domain, he has chosen to take the necessary timeout of self-introspection and healing so that he can adequately address all the pertinent issues in due course.”