Doreen Avio and MzBel had a misunderstanding that escalated
Broadcast journalist Doreen Avio has opened up about a distressing encounter she had with musician Mzbel, following a controversial interview that was aired on Joy FM.
Speaking in a recent interview with YPD News, Doreen Avio disclosed that the incident left her emotionally stressed, adding that she was shocked when Mzbel allegedly called her a witch and cursed her to suffer in life.
“There’s a female celebrity who stressed me out. I’ve never heard anyone tell me that I’m a witch until she said that to me. She cursed me that I would suffer in life,” she said.
Narrating how the issue began, Doreen explained that she was assigned to cover a breaking news story involving the arrest of a female celebrity by the Ghana Police Service.
“I was on my way to work and I got a call from my boss. My boss said there’s breaking news and I asked him what the news was about, then he said a female celebrity had been arrested by the police so I should go there. I didn’t even know her personally; she wasn’t my friend but I just had to do my job,” she stated.
According to her, her boss contacted Mzbel to inform her that Doreen would call to interview her, and the musician reportedly agreed.
Doreen said she personally called MzBel afterward and informed her that the interview would be recorded.
She shared that Mzbel may have assumed the interview would only be aired on Hitz FM.
“When I got to the office, my boss called to inform her that I would call and interview her so she should tell me everything she said to him and we would play it on radio. She agreed. I also called to inform her that I would interview her but it would be recorded.
“She said she didn’t have a problem with that. Mzbel and I had the interview and everything was recorded. Maybe she thought it would be aired on only Hitz FM,” she noted.
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Avio said the interview was recorded and that Mzbel made several allegations against the police, including claims of inappropriate conduct.
“When I finished the interview, it was such a big issue because she made a lot of allegations against the police. She said they were fondling her and other things,” she said.
However, after the interview, Joy FM’s production team requested the recording, citing the seriousness of the allegations.
“Joy FM’s production team came to me and said they needed that interview to be out because if that’s what the police did to her, it was not cool. We gave them the interview and they aired it on Joy FM,” she explained.
Doreen said her ordeal began after the interview was aired, as Mzbel allegedly accused her of recording the interview without consent.
“After the interview was aired, I didn’t have peace because Mzbel started creating issues for me. She said I didn’t inform her that I was recording the interview and I asked why then did I interview her if not to be recorded,” she narrated.
The issue was later escalated to a management meeting, where Doreen claimed Mzbel broke down in tears in the presence of the station’s General Manager and other officials.
“They called her for a meeting and if you had seen how Mzbel cried at the meeting. She cried in front of our general manager and everyone present. I was asking myself whether the devil wanted me to lose my job. I was confused and didn’t understand what was going on,” she said.
Doreen stressed that she has interviewed celebrities regularly and has been properly trained in journalistic ethics, insisting she followed the right procedures.
“I’ve been interviewing celebrities every day. If God knows this job is not good for me, I wouldn’t be here today,” she emphasized.
Doreen added, “Even if I didn’t know about the job, I learnt on the job, I didn’t make that mistake because I was taught that before you interview someone, you need to let them know so I did it.”
FG/AE
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