Sing-a-thon: Afua Asantewaa accuses GWR of contract violation over results declaration

Afua Asantewaa, the young lady who attempted to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest singing marathon by an individual, has claimed that the organisation violated their contract by announcing the result of her attempt before she could.

She told GTV in an interview on February 26, 2024, that she had agreed with GWR that she would be the first to reveal the result to the world, as per the contract they signed.

“In the contract we signed, until I decide to let it out, they can't,” she said.

According to her, there was no reason to hide the result from the public, as she had faced failure in her previous endeavours. She added that she was proud of her achievement, regardless of the outcome.

“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.

She reiterated her claims that she did not know the result of her attempt, which she started in December 2023, because she could not access the email that GWR sent her on February 12.

“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,” she shared.

Background

Afua Asantewaa tried to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest singing marathon in December 2023. She sang for 126 hours and 52 minutes, aiming to surpass the current record of 105 hours set by an Indian man in 2012.

She held the event at the Akwaaba Village in Accra, where she attracted thousands of fans and celebrities who supported her and witnessed her attempt. She received positive feedback and praise from the public for her remarkable effort.

However, GWR announced that Afua Asantewaa did not break the record, as she did not follow the rules regarding rest break timings. These rules apply to all the longest marathon records, and they could not be ignored.

Asantewaa's initial response before the GhOne interview

Shortly after Guinness World Records announced Afua’s unsuccessful venture on February 23, 2024, she took to social media and stated that she received the news of the outcome just moments before hosting a gala dinner and the launch of the Lebanese Scholarship Alumni Network, attended by President Nana Akufo-Addo.

This statement was the beginning of the controversy and backlash as some argued she knew about the decision even before the tweet from GWR.

They argued that her excuse was problematic, insisting that she knew about the disqualification but decided to conceal it to keep enjoying the benefits of having embarked on the challenge.

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