Veteran actor Psalm Adjeteyfio, popularly known as TT (for his role in Taxi Driver), has come out against the phenomena of celebrities endorsing one party or another.
According to the actor, the practice can be detrimental to one’s career, as it divides their fans along ideological lines.
In an interview with the Graphic Showbiz, Adjeteyfio bemoaned the practice, which has become commonplace in Ghana with celebrities like John Dumelo and Mr Beautiful publicly taking stances.
“This is a very delicate issue. Any artist who mounts the stage to campaign for a political party or publicly declare his or her support for a political party is doing so at his or her own risk.” He told Showbiz.
“This is because, you are an entertainer and you should be for the whole nation and not for one particular group or creed.
“Declaring your stand for one political party therefore means that you are dividing your audience and saying who should watch or listen to you and who should not”,
In the past, some artist’s careers have been perceived to have suffered as a result of political affiliation in Ghana, so he’s not exactly wrong; but entertainers are people too and should be able to declare their stances, something very common worldwide.
However, TT notes that in Ghana, taking a stance has consequences, and therefore should be avoided.
‘‘There are some of our brothers and sisters who openly campaigned for some political parties and up till date, they are no more being patronised like before. This was what happened to some musicians and actors when they campaigned for some parties in the previous elections and now they are not selling anymore.
“What they did not realise was that, you don’t know the number of your fans who are for party A or party B, so as you declare that you are for party A, what you have done is to tell all your listeners or viewers who are for party B to go away from you.
“You may never know whether your audience in party B are more than those in party A or vice versa, and you stand to lose a whole lot of your admirers at the end of the day, in which ever way you look at it.
“This is why I think it is not a wise thing to identify yourself with a particular candidate; you lose those who love you from the side you are openly campaigning against, and therefore lose your market value”, he concluded.