Veteran Nigerian actress Jumoke George has spoken out about the traumatic events that caused her to take a 14-year break from Nollywood.

The veteran noted in an interview how certain people in the film industry exploited others by putting appearance and sexual favours ahead of genuine skill.

Jumoke George, who has always valued her dark skin, described how directors pushed her to lighten her skin tone to conform to limited beauty standards.

According to her, when she refused to follow these instructions, she was subjected to constant criticism and ultimately banned when a director sternly warned her that she would fail unless she engaged in "removal of pants."

The 59-year-old actress courageously brought attention to these upsetting facts to highlight the negative aspects of the movie industry.

She said, “My skin tone was not the only setback I encountered in this business. The other reason why I did not get any roles or see the back of a lens for 14 years is because I refused to sleep around. For my skin tone, they complained that I was too dark and I would tell them to add my lightning to the scene to make me look lighter,” she said.

You cannot push me into something I do not want to do. I will glow with this skin till old age and do not forget, black does not crack. I started having issues with getting roles when the executives wanted a relationship in exchange for it. The pressure was getting immense and it was more than 20 to 30 people.

Another thing was that if you dated one of them, broke up, and went ahead to date someone else, they would discuss you among themselves. I said to myself that as long as God exists, I would not find myself in such a space. I had to do so to avoid becoming a pass-around among them.”

Watch her speak in the video below