Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage says she's being blackmailed over a sex tape

Undated photo of Tiwa Savage. (CNN)

Tiwa Savage, the award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter, says she's being blackmailed over some intimate footage she filmed with her current boyfriend.

Appearing on the radio station Power 105.1 in New York on Friday, the Afrobeats star said she is refusing to pay a blackmailer who is threatening to release the video.

"I am not going to call it a sex tape but it's a tape between me and the person I am dating right now," she told host Angie Martinez.

According to Savage, the unnamed blackmailer obtained the footage after her lover accidentally posted it on Snapchat. Although he quickly deleted it when he realized his error, it had already been caught by a third party, she said.

Savage said she cried when she was told of the leak on Thursday by her road manager, who was sent the video.

She told Martinez that she would not give in to the blackmailer's demands, adding that even if she paid up, there was no guarantee they wouldn't release the footage anyway.

"I'm not gonna have somebody blackmail for doing something that is natural," she said.

Savage said she was going public about the blackmail so she could control the narrative: "I'm that crazy I could put it out myself ... You're not making any money off of this."

She also said her partner was "going crazy" about the leak, and she expressed fears that it could harm her career and have a damaging effect on her six-year-old son when he was older.

"I don't want this to overshadow what I have going on," she added.

CNN has contacted Savage's representatives for further comment.

The 41-year-old musician, who grew up in London and appeared on "The X Factor" in the UK in 2006, performed as a backup singer for artists such as Mary J. Blige and George Michael, before finding fame as a solo artist.

In 2018, she won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best African Act.

With hits including "Kele Kele" and "Eminado," Savage is signed to Universal Music Group. She is currently in the US promoting her latest album, "Water and Garri."