Diiadem, Dabota Lawson trade accusations in bitter feud

Beauty entrepreneur and former Real Housewives of Lagos star, Adeola “Diiadem” Adeyemi, has publicly detailed the breakdown of her friendship with fellow beauty entrepreneur, Dabota Lawson, amid a growing social media dispute involving a N5m birthday gift.

The fallout escalated after Diiadem shared transaction receipts showing that Lawson transferred N5m to her as a birthday gift, only for the money to be returned later.

In Snapchat posts that circulated on Thursday, Diiadem addressed what she described as an ongoing “hate train and smear campaigns” against her.

She displayed a Providus Bank transaction receipt dated January 12, 2026, showing a N5m transfer from Lawson Dabota to Adeyemi Adeola Chizoba, with the narration, “Happy birthday in advance.”

According to Diiadem, she publicly acknowledged the gift and credited Lawson before being informed that the money was expected to be returned.

She wrote, “Well, as soon as it was posted, I was told it’s called ‘girls game’ and needs to be returned. Which I did immediately.”

She subsequently shared a GTBank transaction notification from the same day, showing that the N5m was refunded to Lawson.

Diiadem also accused Lawson of previously sharing information about her with bloggers and alleged that she had done something similar to fellow RHOLagos cast member, Sophia Momodu, during the show’s “boat saga”.

She claimed that Lawson later confirmed the allegation.

Diiadem said she had previously asked Lawson to stay away from her but later reconciled with her after encouragement from her mentor, Eryca Freemantle.

She also urged Lawson to stop mentioning her name, insisting that her brand and business would not be destroyed by any alleged campaign against her.

The latest dispute comes months after fans noticed Diiadem’s silence during Lawson’s birthday in June 2026, despite Lawson’s public support during Diiadem’s lavish 35th birthday celebrations earlier in the year.

The two entrepreneurs, founders of Beauty by AD and Dabota Cosmetics respectively, had previously appeared close during the third season of The Real Housewives of Lagos, and jointly represented Nigerian creativity at events, including engagements at the UK House of Lords.

Meanwhile, Lawson has since responded to Diiadem’s allegations with her own claims, accusing her former friend of being jealous of her success and opportunities.

According to Lawson, she first encountered Diiadem as a fan before eventually granting her personal access. She also alleged that Diiadem had asked her to invite wealthy men to her parties and display money to create the impression that she was financially successful.

Addressing the N5m controversy, Lawson claimed that she sprayed more than that amount at Diiadem’s birthday celebration, brought other people who also sprayed money and arranged souvenirs for the event.

The dispute took a more personal turn when Lawson alleged that Diiadem had been romantically involved with married men.

She specifically mentioned businessman, Olakunle Churchill, the former husband of actress Tonto Dikeh and a man who was later linked to Rosy Meurer.

Lawson claimed Diiadem travelled to Abuja and, within hours, was publicly displaying a relationship with Churchill and engaging in public displays of affection at a nightclub.

She further alleged that she processed visas for Diiadem and Churchill for a trip to Bali, and warned Diiadem against attending Churchill’s son’s birthday while allegedly involved with him and maintaining a friendship with his former wife.

Diiadem acknowledged knowing Churchill but disputed Lawson’s account of the relationship.

She alleged that the real issue stemmed from Churchill rejecting Lawson’s friend, Ehi Ogbebor, and claimed Lawson had spent considerable time trying to facilitate a relationship between the two while also attempting to introduce Diiadem to Churchill.

Diiadem further accused Lawson of speaking negatively about Tonto Dikeh and allegedly asking her not to visit Dikeh in Abuja.

She also referenced Lawson’s alleged admiration for the husband of Olori Atuwatse III, the Olu of Warri, and other personal disputes involving access to her home and interactions with a married former partner.

Lawson, in her response, maintained that she had supported Diiadem at different stages of her life, including during a pregnancy period, and reiterated that she had processed visas for Diiadem and Churchill for the Bali trip.

She also repeated her claims that Diiadem had asked her to invite wealthy men to events and alleged that financial assistance, including support related to aso-ebi launches, had later been misrepresented.

Lawson described the friendship as increasingly one-sided and said disagreements involving mutual acquaintances eventually became the breaking point.

She also accused Diiadem of remaining preoccupied with her former friend, Christian Kayode, popularly known as Berbiedoll, years after their own fallout.

According to Lawson, Diiadem allegedly contacted personal shoppers to monitor Berbiedoll’s activities and used staff accounts to send negative messages about her on Snapchat.

Berbiedoll subsequently joined the conversation, saying she had remained silent for years but felt compelled to respond to the allegations.

She described Diiadem as a “terrible friend” and claimed that she had supported Diiadem and helped promote her during their friendship.

Berbiedoll alleged that Diiadem later fired a team member for working with her and placed photographers and videographers in situations where they had to choose between the two women.

She also claimed that Diiadem appeared threatened by the success of other women, while asking that her name be excluded from the ongoing dispute.

Meanwhile, Ehi Ogbebor became involved after Diiadem referenced claims concerning Churchill.

In a voice note circulating online and attributed to Ogbebor, she denied having a romantic relationship with Churchill, criticised him and accused Diiadem of dragging her into the dispute.

Ogbebor also made allegations concerning a trip to Uyo more than a decade ago and referred to past shared accommodation involving Diiadem and Churchill.

She warned Diiadem against further involving her in the dispute.

Diiadem subsequently shared portions of the voice note while continuing to present her side of the wider fallout.