Minnie Dlamini says MacG podcast cost her R897,000 Nivea deal
Media personality Minnie Dlamini says derogatory comments made about her on MacGyver “MacG” Mukwevho’s Podcast and Chill cost her a Nivea campaign worth R897,000 and left her professionally “blackballed”, according to Sunday Times.
Dlamini made the claims in a 79-page statement filed at the Equality Court sitting at the Johannesburg High Court, where she is seeking R2.5 million in damages from MacG.
The case stems from an April 2025 episode in which MacG discussed Dlamini’s relationship history and suggested there was “something wrong with her”, including speculating about the smell of her private parts.
Dlamini says she had worked with Nivea since 2023 and had agreed to a R897,000 campaign in April 2025. The deal included four Instagram reels, three half-day mall activations and a half-day e-commerce appearance.
A Nivea activation at Mall of Africa went ahead on 1 May, but Dlamini says subsequent meetings were cancelled or postponed.
She says Dentsu representatives later told her team that Nivea and parent company Beiersdorf were concerned about the controversy and that the campaign would not continue. Dlamini disputes the explanation that the decision was due to a budget change, saying the deal had already been agreed and she had performed work.
MacG, in his answering affidavit, said his comments were “speculative in nature” and were not intended to cause harm. He said he had apologised and was open to mediation and gender-sensitisation sessions.
Dlamini says the controversy also caused severe anxiety and kept her at home for about a month. Her mother, Gloria Queen Dlamini, described her daughter as being deeply distressed by the fallout.
Dlamini is seeking R1 million for herself and R1.5 million for Women for Change.
