‘If I saw balcony that day, I would have jumped’: Davido recalls first celebrity scandal

Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has opened up about the first major scandal that rocked his career, revealing that it happened only months after he shot to fame and left him so overwhelmed that he feared he might lose control.

Speaking on the Vibe Podcast, Davido looked back at the dizzying period that followed the success of his early hits, saying fame arrived so quickly that he had little time to understand the attention — or the risks — that came with it.

According to the singer, his first brush with celebrity scandal happened during an early trip to Ghana.

Davido said a woman who was with him had apparently told people that she was spending time with the rising star. When those around her refused to believe the claim, she decided to produce photographic evidence.

The problem was that Davido was asleep when the picture was taken.

“Apparently she was telling people like, ‘oh, I’m with Davido.’ They’re like, ‘no, you’re lying.’ And then she took the picture,” he stated.

Young Davido pictured in bed with an unknown woman

What began as an attempt to prove she was telling the truth soon became a full-blown celebrity crisis after the photograph found its way online.

For a young Davido, the reaction was immediate — and brutal.

The singer recalled being bombarded with calls from members of his family as the scandal spread, leaving him terrified and emotionally overwhelmed.

“My daddy was calling me. My sisters were calling me.

“If I saw balcony that day, I would have júmped. I was going crazy,” he said.

The incident, Davido explained, became one of his earliest lessons in the dangers of fame. He was still young, newly successful and, by his own admission, enjoying the attention that came with being a rising music star.

But the experience taught him that celebrity came with a target on his back.

“I was young and I liked women too much. God had to show me, trust me, God had to show me at the time. You’re young, you’re famous, you’re a target. Even if you want to have fun, take their phones,” he said.

Looking back, Davido appears to regard the episode less as a career-ending disaster and more as an early warning from an industry he was only beginning to understand.

The lesson was simple: once fame arrives, privacy becomes a luxury — and the people around a celebrity can sometimes become part of the story.

For Davido, that realisation came remarkably early in his career.