Social media sensation, Afua Asantewaa says the Guinness World Records (GWR) breached their contract when it announced the result of her singing marathon before she could.
Speaking in an interview on GTV, she explained that it was agreed in the contract signed with GWR that she would be informed of the results so she can announce it to the world.
“In the contract we signed, until I decide to let it out, they can’t. There are so many things I have tried in the past that I willingly embraced failure (and) that brought me this far. So why would I hide the results from the public? No way,” she said.
As of Friday, February 23, when GWR replied a tweet, Afua Asantewaa said she did not know the results of the record attempt because she was unable to access the email sent by GWR containing the results.
She noted that when she was sent the email on February 12, she alerted the GWR about her inability to access it however, to date they are yet to get back to her.
“As we speak, I cannot log in. And we had screenshots of it as if I knew this would happen. I lodged a complaint with them that I cannot access their website or my account so they should look into it for me because I need official documents, whatever they’ve sent to make a statement.”
Afua Asantewaa said that she and her team were making plans to announce the results once GWR got back to them.
“What I understand is that everybody is emotional about this and anticipating a lot and I know that they wish that the results came from us. We were even planning where to break the news when we received it. We wanted to do a press conference and all that.”
She noted that she would not purposely hide the results and would, like so many times in the past, embrace the results and try again if needed.
Afua Asantewaa in December 2023 took on the challenge to beat the existing sing-a-thon record which stands at 105 hours set in 2012.
She endured a five-day singing marathon which began at midnight on Sunday, December 24, 2023, and ended at 7:00 am on December 29, 2023.
At the time she ended her record attempt on Friday morning, the young woman had sung for five days, six hours and 55 minutes.
Ending her record attempt on an emotional note, Afua Asantewaa sang Osibisa’s ‘Woyaya’. The national anthem was later played to honour her and celebrate her efforts.
She was also announced as a Tourism Ambassador by the Ghana Tourism Authority days later.
However, after eagerly awaiting the outcome of her record attempt, the Guinness World Records remained silent.
In January 2024, she disclosed that her team had expedited the approval process. She revealed that they paid $750 to the Guinness World Records for a priority review.
However, even though a priority review takes five business days, her result was delayed again; fuelling rumours that she may not have passed.
On Friday, the GWR revealed that Afua Asantewaa failed to break the longest singing marathon she attempted in December 2023. They said this in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) adding that despite the setback they hope she makes another attempt.
“We’ve seen how inspirational it has been for her fans…We wish Afua the best of luck with any future record attempts,” they noted.
They added that the money Afua Asantewaa’s team paid for a priority review has been refunded.
“The evidence check had already begun before Afua requested priority service, so we refunded her payment earlier this month,” the statement read.
Their announcement raised doubts about whether or not the young lady purposely hid the results and the fact that her money was refunded.
But in the interview on GTV, Afua Asantewaa said that when she sent the money in January, GWR acknowledged it but stopped short of telling her that the record attempt was under review.
She added that, when they refunded the money, she was not notified by her bank and neither did the GWR tell her they paid back her money.
“Even the transaction we made they saw it after five days…so if they refunded it to me, refund is not confirmation of the success or unsuccessful attempt,” Afua Asantewaa said.
She noted that despite the results she believes getting to have this five-day experience is an accomplishment.
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