Kenyan actress Grace Wacuka, known for her role as Olivia in the popular Showmax series Single Kiasi, has made serious allegations of sexual harassment against one of the show’s directors, Philippe Bresson of Insignia Productions.
Wacuka claims the incident occurred in November 2022 during the filming of Season 2. She alleges that Philippe made inappropriate advances after criticizing her performance in a scene.
“In that particular scene, his direction was not making sense to me,” Wacuka said. “During the break, Philippe came to me, and I thought he was coming to apologize. Instead, he grabbed my hand, put it on his a** and told me, ‘Hold me like you love me.’”
She rejected the advance and claims Philippe dismissed her concerns, later responding with the comment, “But you wanted it.”
Wacuka alleges that Philippe threatened to block her from other film opportunities after she rejected his advances. She also shared that when contacted to audition for Insignia Productions’ new series, Kash Money, she declined, citing concerns about the working environment.
“I didn’t want to audition because is that really an environment I want to work in?” Wacuka explained.
She described feeling disheartened by the lack of accountability in the Kenyan film industry, claiming that Philippe is “worshipped” by many producers, which limits avenues for justice.
After Wacuka shared her experience in the Kenyan Professional Actors Forum WhatsApp group, with over 650 members, she received a cease and desist letter from Philippe Bresson and Grace Kahaki, another director at Insignia Productions.
The letter demands that Wacuka retract her statements and issue an apology, labeling the allegations as false and defamatory. Failure to comply, the letter warns, will result in legal action.
As of now, neither Philippe Bresson nor Insignia Productions has issued a public statement beyond the demand letter.