HARARE - There appears to be no let-up in the feud between musician Ammara Brown and the producers of Zim Punk’d, a satirical ZTV programme that pokes fun at celebrities.
Last week Ammara, the daughter of late legendary guitarist and vocalist Andy Brown, alleged that Zim Punk’d lured her onto their programme by lying that they had secured funding for 14-year-old cancer patient, Sandra Chimanga.
In the ensuing war of words that is playing out between the two parties in newspapers and on social networks, Zim Punk’d, which is headed by Clive Mandizha, has insisted that they never said they had secured funds for Sandra who is suffering from nostril cancer.
A combative Mandizha has accused Ammara of using the controversy to publicise her new album.
“I think Ammara is trying to promote her album and is using us as pawns,” Mandizha told the Daily News.
“There is more to this than meets the eye. I believe the negative stuff against us coming out on social networks is the work of people who want to discredit our show,” he said.
“What happened was that Ammara was called by Jerry Vengesai, one of our cast members to discuss a donation. Please note that Jerry did not say he had the money. He said he wanted to discuss a donation but Ammara went on to call the parents of the girl (cancer patient).”
But Ammara, who has just released a controversial song called Crucify Me, is not relenting in her fight against Zim Punk’d.
“Sandra’s life is still hanging in the balance, and I hope someday you will realise that. In the meantime I am going to hit you where it hurts the most because it is evident you have next to no compassion towards the value of human life. The Almighty will forgive you but I won’t, until you do the right thing. That is all I have left to say to you,” she wrote on her Facebook page.
“I understand that you are trying to save ZimPunk’d as you are the founder, but the truth is that Sandra was affected at the expense of your brand. I see you have lied about me to the media but you have confused “Ammara the artist” with “Ammara the philanthropist”.
In a bid to defend herself, Ammara posted a screen shot of her Whatsapp exchange with the Zim Punk’d representative who identified himself as Clive.
The conversation that Ammara claims took place between her and Zim Punk’d representative shows that the satirical ZTV programme agreed to donate $2 000 to Sandra through Ammara.