Multichoice has made known to the media that they are aware of the allegation that the concept for Dinner at Somizi’s is not actually Somizi’s. They have said in an official statement that they reached out to Hastings Moeng who claims that the idea for the show is in fact his.
A spokesperson for the Multichoice conglomerate Benedict Maaga told Sowetan, "When content is commissioned from producers, as in this case, MultiChoice obtains undertakings that all intellectual property rights in relation to the show have been cleared. We reached out to Mr Moeng a week ago to discuss the matter and we await his response”.
In the meantime, Somizi has been a trending topic on social media amidst all the scandal as reports began to emerge of the alleged plagiarism. One tweet in particular that stands out was posted by well-known media personality Eusebius McKaiser, it contains a 2014 e-mail which he invites his followers to read and then decide for themselves.
On 28 July 2014, Hastings Moeng proposed #DinnerAtSomizis to Somizi & Themba. The description of the show is materially similar to the one now flighted (to the shock of Mr Moeng). See the 2014 email below and decide for yourself. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/QVcpJIAY8o
— Eusebius McKaiser (@Eusebius) September 15, 2020
Meanwhile, in the midst of the storm, Somizi appears to have decided to keep calm and just carry on – his most recent social media post is a video clip of himself mouthing along to Kelly Khumalo’s Empini – his face covered in what appears to be a charcoal beauty mask.
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