Sophia Momodu has opened up about the pregnancy stigma and public ridicule she faced after having a child outside marriage with Nigerian singer Davido, saying the experience made it difficult for her to have a voice despite being a well-known public figure.

Momodu spoke about her experience during a side panel at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, where she discussed the pressure she faced as a Nigerian woman and pastor’s daughter after becoming pregnant for Davido.

“This is my life story. I am a pastor’s daughter who got pregnant out of wedlock by a global superstar. And I was mocked. It was crazy. And I had to find my strength in the midst of all of that,” Momodu said.

The mother of Davido’s first daughter, Imade Adeleke, said the public reaction to her pregnancy affected her ability to speak about her own experience, despite already being famous and having a public profile.

“And for the longest time, I didn’t have a voice. I was famous, I was popular, but I didn’t have a voice. It kept getting drowned out by whatever negativity was around that story. If you’re Nigerian and you’re here, you know that it’s almost a taboo to be a pastor’s daughter and have a child out of wedlock,” the entrepreneur said.

Her comments revisit the circumstances surrounding the birth of Imade, whom Momodu and Davido welcomed on May 14, 2015. Their relationship and subsequent disagreements over their daughter have remained in the public eye, with the former couple later becoming involved in a prolonged custody dispute.

The Davido and Sophia Momodu custody dispute escalated legally in April 2024, when Davido filed a case at the Lagos State High Court seeking joint custody and unrestricted access to Imade. Momodu opposed the application and disputed several claims made in the proceedings, including allegations concerning her role in the child’s care.

In February 2026, Davido withdrew the custody case after the matter had remained before the court for almost two years. The singer said he had sought joint custody rather than full custody and maintained that there was no winner in the dispute because their daughter was affected by the legal battle.

The custody dispute continued to generate legal developments after the withdrawal, including a ₦1 billion pre-action notice issued by Momodu’s lawyer following a courtroom confrontation between Davido and the lawyer during the custody proceedings.

However, Momodu’s latest comments focused less on the custody battle and more on the earlier pregnancy stigma and the personal impact of being publicly judged after having Davido’s child outside marriage.

She recalled that an aunt once contacted her after allegedly being asked by a friend to encourage Momodu to stop speaking publicly about the experience. In her words:

“And then, an aunt called me one day and said a friend of hers had called her to talk to me to please keep quiet, because this is not a topic that we are allowed to talk about as Black women.”

The entrepreneur’s appearance at the UN General Assembly side panel therefore brought renewed attention to the personal story behind her public relationship with Davido, years after the birth of Imade and the custody dispute that followed.