Alcoholism: Piesie Esther reveals the origin, intent behind controversial 'drunk skit'

Singer Piesie Esther has revealed what led her to shoot and publish a skit that sees her playing the role of a drunkard.

She spoke on Accra 100.5 FM's Ayekoo Ayekoo, on Thursday, November 23, 2023.

The controversial skit was posted on Piesie Esther's Instagram (IG) page on November 1, along with a caption that welcomed her followers and fans to a new month, projecting it would be "a spiritually uplifting" month.

It has almost 14,000 likes at publication time.

Arguably ambiguous, in the video, Piesie Esther was seen dressed shabbily and staggering like she was intoxicated but present in mind enough to sing along to her new hit Mo, blasting on a wireless radio/music player in her hand.

An account, bkaybeauty, intimated the video was perplexing and unbecoming of a singer-songwriter, who has indicated several times she would not accept sponsorship from alcohol brands.

Another account, caesar_sandie, seemed to discern the singer was making an unconventional attempt at promoting the Nacee-produced song.

Addressing the reactions the video has garnered over 23 days, Piesie Esther explained to Akua Sonto that she was not promoting alcoholism.

"Piesie would never do such!" she exclaimed.

The multiple award-winning Gospel artiste then revealed the incident that inspired the social media content.

"The reason is, where I live, there is an information centre there which repeatedly plays my song Mo.

"One day when I was walking in front of my house, I saw this notorious drunkard and you could see he wanted to show everyone that he knows how to sing Piesie Esther's Mo, so amidst his staggering, he sang Mo. He was mimicking me in the music video also.

"Unfortunately, even though I wanted to take a video of him, I couldn't because I didn't have my phone on me at that moment.

"All I wanted to show was that, by God's grace, even those intoxicated by alcohol have realised they must give thanks to God. Being drunk did not mean to him that he cannot praise God. Yes, indeed he was drunk but he remembered - he said: 'I really enjoy this song'. He said that slapping his chest for emphasis.

"God has caused alcohol addicts to sing Mo to praise Him.

"So I was hurt that I couldn't take a video of him. Due to that, when I reached home, I told said I would act out the scene in his stead," Piesie Esther narrated.

She stressed that for her, the import of the instance was, irrespective of religious stances, moral weaknesses, or mental illness, there is "nothing more beautiful than seeing someone drunk and praising God with a Gospel song".

The gospel star is seen in a striped shirt, with a necktie and her sleeves folded. She had one trouser leg folded upward just beneath the right knee, and on her feet were yellow heels. On her head, she wore a beenie cap.

In her hand also, she had a big wireless radio/music player, and from it, her new hit Mo could be heard playing.