The FDA in 2016 gave a directive to prevent celebrities from advertising and promoting alcoholic brands in the country. According to the FDA, this directive is to protect minors from getting exposed to alcohol as they are likely to emulate what celebrities do on TV.
This decision has received a lot of condemnation by celebrities and industry stakeholders. One Mark Darlington filed a suit against the FDA’s directive praying the Apex court to hold as unconstitutional.
The supreme court in a 5-2 majority decision on Wednesday, June 19 dismissed the case and upheld the FDA’s directive. After the ruling, some celebrities have shared their thoughts on the subject matter.
The latest to join the discussion is Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah famously known as Mzbel. The musician during an interview on Onua FM, recounted how the directive by the FDA affected her deals with some companies.
According to Mzbel, due to the directive by the FDA, she lost her deal with Joy Dadi only receiving a fraction of the contract sum about eight years ago.
“They gave me Gh₵25,000 that was a long time. About seven to eight years ago. It was part payment; they had paid for my photoshoots and every other expense and we were preparing for a billboard before they realized about the FDA ban so we could not do the billboard,” Mzbel said.
Mzbel also noted that, the government is using the directive as a way to deprive them from making money from alcoholic advertisement. She noted that, there are drinking bars at every junction and corner in the country, hence it is worrying for the FDA to give such a directive.
Mzbel further added; “The government is just finding a way to block our source of income, and this is the only way they can do that because most of the celebrities get deals from these companies”.
