DJ Joe Mfalme on life after being fired from radio: ‘The past year has been my biggest yet’

DJ Joe was only three months into his new gig, alongside hosts Shaffie Weru and Neville Musya, when they were laid off in March following comments about a 20-year-old woman who was reportedly thrown from the 12th floor of a building by a man after refusing his sexual advances.

Although the sought-after deejay says that he has moved on from the incident, he maintains that the situation was unprofessionally handled.

“In the corporate world, where did you see someone getting fired for the first mistake? If whatever we did was wrong in their view, at least a warning should have been issued first… We have seen worse scenarios with no action taken,” Mfalme told Sunday Nation.

Mfalme revealed that his engagement in the past one year hit an all-time high, adding that no brands pulled out from partnerships with him amid the controversy the comments sparked for allegedly promoting sexual violence. 

“No brands disengaged, It was even more surprising to me that in my 13 years of deejaying, last year was the busiest,” the entertainer went on, “My phone just couldn’t stop buzzing with many brands, corporates and people wanting us to work together.”

“I did a lot of year-end parties and corporate launches in 2021. I even managed to build my mother a house, despite all that drama.”

The deejay further stated that he has since opted out of pursuing a lawsuit against his former employer, Radio Africa Group, for unfair termination, in which he was seeking Ksh.21 million.

When asked what he learned from the whole incident, Mfalme said: “I will never try to be the hero again. No matter how ugly the situation I see turns out, I will always turn a blind eye.”

Mfalme in January announced the acquisition of a DJ academy aimed at teaching and mentoring upcoming deejays.

The deejay said as a director, he was taking the role of mentoring and developing a new curriculum for the academy, alongside fellow DJ Michael 'W-DJ' Waithaka.