‘Somizi is not a thief’
Johannesburg, South Africa
Legend Manqele producer of Somizi‘s cooking show, Dinner at Somizi’s, has come out in defense of the multi-talented media personality over alleged claims that he stole the concept of the cooking show from Hastings Moeng, an aspiring content producer.
According to Moeng, he had the idea of the cooking show since 2010 and had even approached Somizi and Manqele with his proposal in 2014 who never reverted with a positive response.
However, last year Moeng was shocked to see the cooking show airing on Multichoice’s M-Net channel without having gotten any form of credit for it which has since prompted Moeng to seek the legal route. Regardless, Manqele has remained adamant that Somizi never stole the concept.
“The original concept of the cooking show was created during the level 5 and 4 lockdown as a virtual cooking show hosted by Somizi and his husband, Mohale. The show was originally named Straight Out Of The Kitchen. While MultiChoice was initially on board with the idea of a virtual cooking show, they suggested a few changes to the format and they also suggested that we change the name of the show from Straight Out Of The Kitchen to Dinner At Somizi’s.
Moreover, It is correct that Mr. Hastings approached me at a gym approximately eight years ago, in the early stages of my business and told me about the idea that he had for a cooking show. I gave him my email address and asked him to email me. I do not recall ever receiving that email Mr. Hastings refers to eight years ago. In fact, the evidence clearly shows that I never even opened the email from Mr. Hastings
However, Multichoice and I previously met with Mr. Hastings in the attempt to resolve the matter and to try to present evidence to prove that the show was not a stolen concept. Judging by recent developments, our attempts to address this matter privately with Mr. Hastings have obviously been unsuccessful,” said Manqele.
Nevertheless, Multichoice is yet to give Dinner At Somizi’s a season renewal. Although reasons are not clear why the cooking show is yet to return for a second season this scuffle between Somizi and Moeng is proving to be the deal breaker.
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