A Story of Fame, Love, Manipulation, and Quietness

Cartoon Comedian and Rotimi

Source: TV47

Recall this phrase, " Ina ni affect," that hit the comedy waves a few years ago? Yeah, I know you do. The name that made our lives enjoyable through comedy skits was Cartoon the comedian, real name Vanessa Akinyi. The accent, facial expressions, and her raw humour resonated with Kenyan culture, keeping us all hooked on our phones. She was loved for her simplicity and originality. No makeups, just a natural girl doing her thing. This is a story of Vanessa Akinyi, popularly known as Cartoon Comedian.

I was scrolling through one of the social media platforms, and I saw a post by one Javan Karanja about Cartoon the comedian. As her fan back then, I got interested because it had been a while since I last saw her skits. The first line of his post was, "If you think you're having struggles in your relationship, remember Cartoon Comedian changed her brand name to Vanessa Akinyi to impress an Oga man from Enugu State, shaved her hair after the Oga man said he loves short hair, and stopped producing comedy skits after the man said he can't marry someone active in the art industry."

I then linked this with the silence of the comedian; no more skits to brighten our Saturday mornings, as we usher in the weekend. The silence was not instant, but gradual. The skits were reduced, old videos deleted, and slowly, her trade shifted to music. At the back of all these new changes was a new lifestyle; a man who was not comfortable with her online presence.

When "Love" Entered

The word love is encypted in quotes because hers proved to be manipulation engraved in what appeared to be love. She was forced to change her brand name, leave comedy and switch to music, just to impress her newfound love, who claimed that she could not get married to someone in the comedy industry. Some fans felt like she was losing it because someone who loves you will not manipulate you into becoming a new person. She will love you for who you are and walk with you in your journey. Despite all these, the comedian defended her choices, claiming she had grown and she did not find fulfilment in comedy anymore.

Fame is Loud, But Relationships Are Fragile

Fame is good, but it comes with a lot of pressure. Whatever you do is monitored closely by the public, some of whom are your fans. The media, content creators, fans, and bloggers wait for any wrong or good move so they can write and make content from it. Despite the Instagram photos that showed a perfect marriage, there were cracks in their wall. It later came out that the online pressure tore them apart. Her partner claimed that constant reminders of who your partner used to be and being blamed for who they have become career-wise by online strangers took a toll on him.

The cracked wall finally appeared, with the news that Cartoon Comedian and her partner, Rotimi, had gone their separate ways. The separation had no drama, but was a silent one, with confirmation that they were no longer together but would continue co-parenting their son.

After Break-Up

Picture a situation where you have ditched your career to try to make your relationship work, then less than five years later, it all goes up in flames. Having diverted from what made her famous, Cartoon the Comedian already lost part of her audience and getting them back wouldn't be easy. Now her relationship has not worked, and she has a young child. This calls for a serious reinvention and adaptation.

Instead of Blaming Her, Let Us Support Her

After all these, some fans felt vindicated, others felt heartbroken for her, but others asked whether it was worth it. But as they say, not every chapter is for applause, and what befell her could happen to anyone. Life's choices can either go our way or otherwise. We have seen people choose a career over love, and others lose a career over love. In the two scenarios, some of them win, whereas others don't. In some instances, you gamble on happiness and end up being bitter and starting over again.

Sometimes the version that made you successful might not be able to survive the next phase of life. Stop clinging to the older version of yourself, living on past successes, and adapt to the new season of your life.

If cartoon comedian ever comes back to comedy again, the best we can do is support her. And it is not only cartoon comedian, but also any comedian or musician who was once up there, but the season they are in now is not as they thought it would be.