Why celebrity divorces should be handled with dignity

Not one to be entertained or find interest in the personal affairs of celebrities, the lack of restraint in the divorce matter of Pearl Mbewe and Sello Maake ka Ncube shows just how volatile love that ends in acrimony can get.

From restraining orders to personal affairs being aired as laundry for all and sundry to see.

While one partner tries to remain mum, the other has repeatedly feeling compelled to tell their side of a story they have never been asked to narrate.

The same couple put South Africa at centre stage of their “couple goals” relationship, they posted so much that unprovoked one would see their love lives here posts.

A wife supporting her husband through his career achievements and a husband posting his undying love for a wife who came into his life to restore all faith in love when so many failed relationships had begun to define who he was.

Fast forward to divorce stage, the husband now claims that the wife made the posts as a seasoned brand manager; she was simply at work, working her magic.

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While divorce is a horrible thing to go through, and mudslinging can be expected, speaking of ones (alleged) medical diagnosis is a new level of low.

Why would one risk so much to tarnish someone’s public persona when the fight is, absolutely, personal?

To want to taint their image and possibly have them lose work and endorsements, and to strategically do so, at the height of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

Again, I ask, outside of the courtroom, was there a need for the public spat that we are forced to witness?

There is a need for people in the media space to run to social media and tabloids when life just does not go according to their plan. Their quickened manner resembles that of a maths teacher escorting the class clown to the principal’s office for work not done, and while the media will report, the public consumes because the content is there.

Removing all credibility for not only the warring spouse but the tattle teller too, we begin to question even their amplified happiness because everything is carefully orchestrated, and honestly exhausting.

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Here’s to hoping that the remainder of this divorce is resolved privately, because there are still children involved, young or old, that will have to account for their parent’s behaviour on amplified platforms.