Journalist Israel Laryea has publicly defended his wife, Louisa Laryea, following online criticism over comments she made on social media that were perceived to be directed at GHOne TV journalist Lily Mohammed.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Laryea said he had spoken with his wife about a post that went viral and triggered a wave of trolling. He noted that while people may express their views freely, they cannot control how others interpret or spin their words.

According to him, Louisa did not intend to body shame anyone and never meant to suggest that Lily Mohammed had undergone cosmetic procedures. He said she does not know Lily personally and therefore had no basis to make such claims. He added that any offence caused was unintended.

| Lily Mohammed 

The controversy follows remarks Lily Mohammed made on television criticising Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for issuing a passport to US streamer IShowSpeed after his visit to Ghana. Mohammed questioned the value of the tour and its potential economic benefit to the country, but later apologised live on air.

Subsequently, Louisa Laryea made social media comments that some users interpreted as targeting Mohammed, suggesting a focus on appearance rather than substance and informed opinions.

Addressing the backlash, Israel Laryea criticised online trolling and urged people, particularly friends, to seek clarification privately instead of joining public attacks. He also responded to negative comments about his family, calling for civility and personal focus.

He ended his message by expressing support for his wife.

| Israel Laryea/Facebook (Pic): Louisa Laryea, wife of journalist Israel Laryea

See the entire statement below:  

Louisa and I have had conversations about her post that went viral and caused a troll storm and I got her to appreciate a few things - one of them being that there’s one thing about what you say and there’s another about how people interpret it.  

While you may feel free to say what you wish, you cannot necessarily control how people understand it.  

There’s also how people would choose to spin it to suit their own narrative.  

She however explains, that she never meant to body shame anyone.  

Unfortunately, we can all agree that you can’t control how people choose to interpret a post.  

Louisa further clarifies, that she never sought to infer that Lily Mohammed had bleached or done BBL because she does not know her.  

If Lily felt offended, sorry, but that was definitely not the intention.  

I’ve also read posts and comments about my marriage. To those people, I’d say focus on your marriage if you have one or when you enter one.  

There are also those who say Louisa is ugly. Really? This woman right here at 52 years after giving birth to three children, is ugly? Create a human let’s see how you fare.  

Finally to the “friends” who joined the troll or fueled it, what real friends will do would be to reach out privately to obtain some context or seek to correct if necessary.  

I’ve never trolled or joined trolling of a friend and would never do that. But hey, we’re all brought up differently, which is why we will always have differences in opinions.  

Stay well.  

…and to you, Louisa, I love you always.