Papa Penny reveals how the production company that shot his reality shows cheated him financially.
The legendary entertainer whose real name is Eric Kulani Giyani Nkovani says the show ended due to financial disagreements with the production company, SeMamo Productions.
The fifth season of the TV show didn’t make it to screens as it got canned after four successful seasons.
According to ZiMoja, the show didn’t get renewed because Papa Penny demanded to be paid more.
“Penny could not reach an agreement with the company producing the show. He wanted more money and that was affecting the quality of the production,” says an insider.
“He also wanted money to go directly to his account, which was high risk because it meant production would need to ask him for funds for the running of the show and that’s not practical. So, they had to part ways.”
The legendary star says the company still owes him money.
“Those people still owe me money,” he tells ZiMoja.
“I still want the money they owe me. If they want to keep the show, it’s okay but there can’t be another Penny Penny. I’m not fighting, they need to do what is right,” he added.
“Everything happens for a reason. People love Penny Penny and the family. They want to see us on TV but those people exploited me. They paid me R300 000 for season one and the same for season two. Then we negotiated that they give me R400 000 for seasons three and four. They did not include money for my VAT and when my auditor realised that I approached them to pay the VAT because I was unaware that it was not included, they refused.”
“They were not paying my family up until season three. My mother died on season four without having been paid. My mother died without receiving her money from the production company,” he says.
“They even treated us badly. There was a time, we flew to Mauritius, and they put us up at a dumping place and not the beautiful side of Mauritius.”
In conclusion, Papa Penny says he is not a greedy person, though the company is painting him to be so.
