What began as a close friendship between The Real Housewives of Lagos stars Adeola “Diiadem” Adeyemi and Dabota Lawson has descended into a public social-media fallout, with both women exchanging claims over money, business opportunities, bloggers and their former relationship.
Diiadem and Dabota, both beauty entrepreneurs, became close after meeting through the beauty industry and later appeared together as cast members on the third season of The Real Housewives of Lagos. Both were among the new cast members introduced for the third season.
Their friendship had previously been publicly celebrated, with the pair often appearing together and supporting each other’s businesses.
However, reports emerged earlier this week that the two had fallen out and were no longer following each other on social media. Some reports attributed the breakdown to alleged jealousy, although neither woman initially publicly confirmed that as the reason for their disagreement.
The situation escalated after Diiadem took to Snapchat to address what she described as online “hate” and “smear campaigns” against her on Thursday.
Diiadem calls out Dabota
In a series of posts, Diiadem accused Dabota of being involved in the circulation of information about her through bloggers.
She also addressed a ₦5m transfer that had previously been associated with Dabota’s birthday gesture towards her, claiming that she was later asked to return the money.
Diiadem wrote, “Anyone remembered this alert I posted hyping Dabota? Well as soon as it was posted, I was told it’s called ‘girls game’ and needs to be returned. Which I did immediately.”
She also alleged that Dabota had shared her information with bloggers.
“Get my name off your mouth Dabota Lawson and leave me alone,” she said.
Diiadem further alleged that Dabota had a pattern of involving bloggers whenever she fell out with people.
“Every time you fall out with someone, it seems like your first instinct is to use bloggers to tear them down.”
She said the situation became particularly upsetting after her daughter’s image appeared on a blog.
“I felt like a failed parent when I saw my daughter’s face on that dirty blog,” she said.
Diiadem ended her post by saying she wanted to be left out of further drama.
“I refuse to be used, manipulated, or dragged into unnecessary drama. Please, get over yourself and leave me alone. I just want to live,” Diiadem said
Dabota fires back
Dabota subsequently responded to Diiadem’s posts, challenging her to state specifically what she believed she had done to cause the fallout.
She suggested that their relationship became strained after she secured funding from a finance company which Diiadem had also approached.
“SAY EXACTLY WHAT DABOTA LAWSON DID TO YOU
“Other than the fact that I secured a funding opportunity which you also applied for but did not follow through with the required process, renovated and rebranded my store and business, and launched a new innovation which I personally showed you when the first samples arrived, I genuinely cannot identify exactly what I have done to you,”
She added.
Dabota also rejected aspects of Diiadem’s claims concerning blogger-related disputes.
Speaking about Sophia Momodu, she said she had addressed her disagreement with her directly during The Real Housewives of Lagos.
“Speaking of Sophia: as I have already said, the boat was hired. Whether it appeared on a blog or not, I said what I had to say directly to her face on national television, without mincing my words. We have since moved past that situation,” Diiadem said.
She then challenged Diiadem to produce evidence for the allegations made against her.
“Speaking of the blogger, I dare you to publish the evidence supporting every allegation you have made,” Dabota said.
Money becomes part of the dispute
The disagreement also moved into their financial dealings.
Diiadem claimed that she once borrowed ₦1m from Dabota during a meeting because she was unable to make a transfer at the time.
She said she subsequently repaid the money with an additional amount.
“And yes, I borrowed ₦1 million from you because we were in a meeting and I couldn’t make a transfer at that moment. When I paid you back, I sent ₦1.5 million and even added extra so you could buy gifts for your daughter,” she said.
Diiadem also questioned Dabota’s account of money she had allegedly sprayed at her party, saying there was a disagreement over what happened to the money afterwards.
Diiadem later returned to Snapchat with another response, challenging Dabota’s account of their disagreement and addressing the $10,000 funding opportunity and a project involving Jarvis.
On the Jarvis issue, Diiadem claimed Dabota had wanted to participate in the project but became upset after she was not invited.
“As for Jarvis, you desperately wanted to be part of it. When I didn’t invite you, you got upset.”
She said Dabota had also referred to the visibility another creator had gained through the project and suggested that a similar opportunity could benefit her and her daughter.
Diiadem also referenced Dabota’s comments about a former relationship but did not need to disclose the more personal details in her response for the disagreement to be understood.
How the friendship deteriorated
The latest exchange suggests that the disagreement goes beyond a single incident, with both women pointing to a series of unresolved issues involving friendship, business, money and public perception.
Diiadem has maintained that she wants Dabota to stop discussing her publicly, while Dabota has challenged her to clearly identify what she believes she did wrong.
The dispute has now spilt beyond the two women, with screenshots of their Snapchat posts circulating across social media and blogs.
The fallout has also attracted renewed attention because of their relationship on The Real Housewives of Lagos, where both women were introduced as part of the show’s third-season cast.
Their competing accounts have left fans debating what ultimately caused the relationship to collapse.
