Nollywood’s box-office queen, Funke Akindele, has sparked fresh controversy after bluntly responding to filmmaker Kunle Afolayan’s remarks on cinema profits and marketing tactics, dismissing his position as thinly veiled jealousy.

The outspoken actress reacted after Afolayan criticised what he described as exhausting and undignified promotional strategies used to push cinema releases, particularly films grossing up to ₦2 billion at the box office.

During the launch of Anikulapo, Afolayan insisted that cinema figures mean little if filmmakers do not directly feel the financial rewards, declaring that he had no interest in chasing ₦1 billion or ₦2 billion box-office headlines without personal profit.

He doubled down at the Lagos Business of Film Summit, distancing himself from cinema-driven promotions and indirectly shading colleagues like Funke Akindele, saying he could not imagine dancing daily, switching costumes and creating skits just to sell a film.

Funke, however, wasted no time responding. In a fiery Instagram post, she framed Afolayan’s comments as jealousy, insisting she was not responsible for anyone’s stalled progress and urging him to chart his own course.

“If you can’t beat them or join them, create your own path. Don’t let jealousy burn you,” she wrote, mixing English and Yoruba in a message that many fans interpreted as a direct slap at her colleague.

She further advised filmmakers who dislike hands-on promotion to explore alternative strategies or outsource marketing, stressing that the industry is big enough for everyone — a statement that landed amid record-breaking ₦1 billion and ₦2 billion cinema runs by herself and Toyin Abraham.