The podcaster had reported this as facts on an episode that went viral after it's released on the 9th of May. However, Bonang's lawyers - in the letter of demand to Rea - rubbished these claims, labeling them "false, derogatory and hurtful".
Parts of the letter read as follows: "On Sunday 9 May 2021 you falsely and unlawfully accused Bonang Matheba in a widely published video clip of, inter alia, having introduced AKA (Kieman Jarryd Forbes) to cocaine. In the context of what was being discussed in the video clip this defamatory allegation was exacerbated by the shocking insinuation that the death of AKA's girlfriend Anele (Nellie) Tembe was due to AKA's alleged use of cocaine.
"The allegations were defamatory, hurtful and were deliberately intended to humiliate my client and undermine her reputation. The allegations are also, to your knowledge false. Your false utterances are compounded by the fact that at the time of making them on a public platform, you knew full well that these utterances would be widely viewed given my client's high public profile."
Rea was instructed to issue a retraction and apology in the form of a video and letter, and post these on all his social media platforms. He was also slapped with a R500 000 lawsuit in damages to pay the House of BNG owner.
As per the letter of demand, the 22-year-old youtuber posted an apology and retraction on his social media accounts.
In a single paragraph, Rea's letter read: "To the extent that I have made statements to certain individuals and in the public media stating or implying Ms Matheba's connection to cocaine, I unequivocally retract all such imputations and unreservedly apologise that they were made. I regret any inconvenience caused to Ms Matheba and undertake that it will not happen again."
The letter was shortly followed by a video by Rea in which he apologized to Bonang, AKA and Scoop.
"As stated in my previous retraction and apology to Miss Bonang Matheba, I would like to sincerely apologise to everyone who was mentioned in the podcast on the 9th of May 2021. I am deeply regretful of what I said and I now realise the harm that podcast could cause.
"I have learnt from my mistakes and I will look to improve my content going forward," he said in part
However, this may not be enough because in a now-deleted tweet, he made light of the situation. Unfortunately for him, fans were ready with screenshots and alerted Bonang of the tweet.
In the tweet, Rea jokes about his emphasis on the words "it's known" in the viral and accusatory video about Bonang and AKA.
