The Hollywood actress Halle Berry has slammed the "shameful" 21st Century Group, organisers of the International Women in Media Conference 2018, saying she knows nothing about it although her name was announced and included along with Ashanti and Taraji P. Henson while none of them are part of this.
The event announced to take place on 5 and 6 September in the Sandton Convention Centre, derailed on Wednesday after stars like Taraji P. Henson and Halle Berry who were announced as being part of it, said they won't attend and are not involved with it, and slammed the organisers over "fake advertising", saying it's "shameful that 21st Century Group would advertise this way".
Bonang Matheba has also bailed on the event and Webtickets told TVwithThinus that it has halted all sales.
Taraji P. Henson, who visited South Africa previously as part of a publicity blitz in mid-2016 for Fox Networks Group UK & Africa’s FOX (DStv 125 / StarSat 131 / Cell C black 201) channel, said that she is working on Empire, isn't part of the conference, and that she wants her name and likeness removed from it.
The 21st Century Group in a statement said it is suing and starting a "legal lawsuit" against 42West, a well-known PR firm in the United States, and something called "Superstar Agency".
Halle Berry on Saturday on social media slammed 21st Century Group and said she knows nothing about the announced event and that 21st Century Group had misled her fans.
"To clear the air, I will not be attending the Women in Media Conference 2018. I apologise to any of my fans who were misled - I know nothing about this, I have never heard of it. It's shameful that 21st Century Group would advertise this way," Halle Berry said.
To clear the air... I will NOT be attending #WimCon2018. I apologize to any of my fans who were mislead - I know NOTHING about this, I have never heard of it. It’s shameful that @21stcg_Global would advertise this way. Thank you @TherealTaraji for letting people know. https://t.co/GRvUcimEBv— Halle Berry (@halleberry) August 11, 2018
It's not clear whether 1Magic (DStv 103), one of the M-Net channels supplied to MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, remains the official media partner because M-Net has so far refused to publicly distance itself from the organisers and the event or to affirm its ongoing involvement.
It's also not yet clear whether other announced talent like the Carte Blanche presenter Claire Mawisa, the Mzansi Magic producer and actress Connie Ferguson, Amanda du Pont, actress Salamina Mosese and Thabile Ngwato would appear.
