Ghanaian journalist Israel Laryea has responded to the online storm surrounding his wife, Louisa Laryea, after a social media post she made went viral and triggered criticism from fans of GHOne TV presenter Lily Mohammed. The controversy arose after Lily’s comment about Ghanaian authorities granting a passport to American content creator IShowSpeed after his recent tour in Ghana.
In a detailed statement shared on social media, Israel addressed the backlash, clarifying the intention behind Louisa’s post and urging followers to consider context before passing judgment.
“Louisa and I have had conversations about her post that went viral and caused a troll storm, and I got her to appreciate a few things — one of them being that there’s one thing about what you say and another about how people interpret it,” Israel explained. “While you may feel free to say what you wish, you cannot necessarily control how people understand it. There’s also how people would choose to spin it to suit their own narrative.”
He emphasized that Louisa never intended to target Lily personally or make assumptions about her appearance, including claims about skin bleaching or cosmetic procedures. “She however explains that she never meant to body shame anyone,” Israel said. “Unfortunately, we can all agree that you can’t control how people choose to interpret a post. Louisa further clarifies that she never sought to infer that Lily Mohammed had bleached or done BBL because she does not know her. If Lily felt offended, sorry, but that was definitely not the intention.”
Israel also addressed the personal attacks that emerged online, including comments about his marriage and Louisa’s appearance. “I’ve also read posts and comments about my marriage. To those people, I’d say focus on your marriage if you have one or when you enter one. There are also those who say Louisa is ugly. Really? This woman right here, at 52 years, after giving birth to three children, is ugly? Create a human, let’s see how you fare.”
He concluded with a note on friendship and loyalty, stressing the importance of context before joining online trolling. “Finally, to the ‘friends’ who joined the troll or fueled it, what real friends will do would be to reach out privately to obtain some context or seek to correct if necessary. I’ve never trolled or joined trolling of a friend and would never do that. But hey, we’re all brought up differently, which is why we will always have differences in opinions. Stay well. …and to you, Louisa, I love you always.”
