Marah Louw's dramatic apparent exit from drama series "The Queen" has left Twitter divided – after Louw accused the show's producers of lying about the reasons behind what she insists was her "sacking".
In the series, Louw played Boitshwarelo (Boi) Maake, the matriarch of her family and sister to Jerry (played by Shona Ferguson), a well-liked officer of the law in Tembisa.
She announced her exit from the show on Twitter, following an episode last week that got people talking and singing her praises.
But now Louw has accused the show's producers, Ferguson Films – co-owned by husband-and-wife team Connie and Shona – of treating her "like trash".
Shona Ferguson said in a Sunday Sun report that Louw was not fired – instead, she'd declined a contract extension. Louw has denied this, saying the "extension" she was offered demoted her from a full-time featured player to a "per call" actor.
She took to Twitter to share the letter sent to her by Ferguson Films back in September, accusing Ferguson of lying to the public.
According to the letter, it was "necessary" to have Louw's character exit the show because of the direction in which the narrative was heading. She would be brought back on a per-call basis.
Louw told Sowetan that she refused the offer, because she did not want to be "paid peanuts".
"I know when you act per call they can decide to give you two episodes in a month, and there is nothing you can do. I refused to be paid peanuts, because I am not a monkey," she told the publication.
Although divided, fans of the show of course weighed in on the matter on social media.
But there's no doubt her fans will miss her on their screens.
This performance was one of Louw's final moments on the show:
Additional reporting by Duenna Mambana.
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