‘King of Comedy’ who likes to court controversy

He fancies himself the king of comedy, having started his career as a stand-up comedian on the Churchill Show, and now hosting international shows. 

Comedian Eric Omondi has proven his versatility when it comes to reinventing himself, but lately, he has been making headlines for reasons other than comedy.

From drama between him and the mother of his child, to salacious outbursts on social media, Omondi has left his fans rather confused.

“People might think that I am crazy but I am not. I am just passionate about what I do and the entertainment industry,” Omondi said.

Recently he attacked Kenyan artistes for being “lazy”, something that he says has slowly killed the industry. He argued that Kenyan musicians have become curtain- raisers for international acts.

“The Kenya entertainment scene is dead! We have become clowns in our own land. Every weekend there is a group of three or four foreign artistes in this city Nairobi. Gengetone is dead and buried. Today I see joemuchiri1 heading down to Nanyuki for the monthly Amapiano tour. Guys, we have a monthly South African-themed music festival in our country!!! We have lost our glory,” Omondi said.

“Where are the Kenyan concerts? We have become redundant, predictable and boring. We need to put in the work, to reclaim our glory,” he added.

The response was as swift as it was brutal. Artistes such as Sauti Sol’s Bien-Aimé Barasa rubbished his claims, saying Omondi had become the king of clout-chasing and has forgotten the true meaning of being an artiste.

Stagnation of industry

“Artistes are responding to what I have said with so much bile because they know it is the truth. The pandemic was the best time for artistes to reinvent themselves, not now. I personally did not sleep during the pandemic. And they could have grown. But the problem is that everyone just relaxed and now the world has moved on and the people who were smart enough are the ones reaping fruits,” Omondi said.

For instance, he said, very few artistes have released new songs. The stagnation of the industry is the reason he partnered with singer Miss P, to help propel her career in the right direction.

“An artiste like Miss P who is very talented was literally wasting away. I saw how talented she was and I decided to reach out and help her because these young artistes are our future. We have very talented people, we just need them to wake up. Do you remember back in the early 90s when artistes like the late E-sir, Amani, Nameless, Juacali... these guys would have their own concerts with them as the main acts. What happened to music groups like P-unit, why are they not producing music anymore?” asked Omondi.

Regardless of his efforts, anything he does seems too much for his fans.

“There is nothing I am doing now that is different from what I was doing 10 years ago. I have been doing the same things since 2009. And what I do is not stunts, but entertainment and people like them. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have so many online views.”

In 2018, Omondi landed in trouble after he shared a video of himself swimming naked with children.

In the video – which he later deleted from his Instagram account –  captured him naked, while trying to hide his private parts with his hands, and he could be heard encouraging the children to keep swimming.

Beef with Maribe

He later posted an apology on social media saying that his actions were not meant to offend anyone.
And now the drama with his baby mama.

Omondi and former TV reporter and anchor Jacque Maribe met in 2012, and she got pregnant. The two managed to keep their relationship under wraps, until 2019, when Maribe shared a picture of herself together with Eric and their son, revealing him as the father. But that is not what they are currently making waves about.

Last week, the two aired their dirty linen in public, with Maribe accusing Omondi of being a deadbeat dad. The comedian fired back that he had unsuccessfully demanded a paternity test seven years ago.

This is after Omondi shared a picture of himself with Miss P, who appeared to be pregnant. However, he later clarified that Miss P was not pregnant, but they had manipulated the photo to look like she was pregnant so as to market her new song "Baby Shower". 

According to Omondi, he decided to confront Maribe because her comments were hurting his brand.

“She was the first one to provoke me. I cannot tell you the number of calls I got from corporates, which I have collaborated with wanting to pull out. After I posted the picture of myself with a pregnant Miss P she came and left a very ugly comment saying I am irresponsible, calling me a deadbeat dad,” he explained.

“We live in a very sensitive industry and women are very powerful, and anything to do with children and women can guarantee you losing your career, so I had to come out and save myself, I was protecting my brand that I have built for 14 years, I have put in so much work I cannot allow one single post from someone to bring my whole career down. But now we have realised that we were both selfish.”

He says he has reconciled with Maribe and is now focused on the industry. 

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