YAGO TV SHOW Channel Restored on YouTube After Copyright Strikes and Public Apology in Bruce Melodie Feud

KAMPALA / KIGALI — The popular Rwandan entertainment YouTube channel YAGO TV SHOW, run by journalist, musician, and host Innocent Nyarwaya (known professionally as Yago Pon Dat), is back online with roughly 874,000 subscribers as of October 29–30, 2026, following a brief period of termination linked to copyright strikes.

The channel, which features long-form interviews, commentary, talent promotion, and music releases, faced imminent deletion under YouTube’s three-strike copyright policy in mid-October. Nyarwaya publicly shared screenshots showing three active strikes, several videos removed, and a roughly seven-to-eight-day window before potential permanent removal.

The strikes stemmed from complaints involving the use of material from Rwandan singer Bruce Melodie’s (Itahiwacu Bruce) album Colorful Generation in interviews and related content that Melodie’s side viewed as defamatory or unauthorized.

Melodie later stated that an American company that had acquired rights to the album handled the filings. He denied personally initiating the complaints, saying he disliked certain remarks but “gain[ed] nothing from seeing someone unable to earn a living” and had advised an apology as a path to resolution.

Tensions between the two date back to at least August 2025, when Nyarwaya began criticizing Melodie on social media and his platform. Nyarwaya initially indicated he would delete related videos but would not apologize, framing the strikes as escalation and affirming his faith while urging fans to remain strong.

On October 20, 2026, while in Kampala, Uganda, Nyarwaya released a multi-page public statement apologizing to Rwanda’s leadership, the public, artists, journalists, content creators, and others.

He expressed regret for impulsive and harsh comments, including remarks in a late-September video discussing Melodie’s song “Irya 4” that compared elements to historical laws associated with Gitera—language he acknowledged as inappropriate and made in haste.

He reaffirmed commitment to national unity under the “Ndi Umunyarwanda” principle, pledged greater maturity and restraint, and said he sought to return to constructive work focused on interviews and entertainment without past patterns of conflict.

Around the same period, Nyarwaya accepted a job offer from B&B Kigali FM presenter Jado Castar (in an interview published mid-October) to return to journalism in a style reminiscent of his earlier work. He had left Rwanda for Uganda in late 2024, citing personal security concerns rather than political hostility.

By around October 22, Rwandan media and social media reported the channel as terminated.

On October 25, YAGO TV SHOW LTD issued a statement reassuring fans that it was working to restore the channel, that no replacement account had been created, and that other activities (including music releases) would continue. The statement called for patience, peace, and avoiding conflict.

Multiple posts on X on October 29–30 confirmed the channel’s return, with screenshots showing it active at approximately 874,000 subscribers and thousands of videos restored. The official channel page is currently accessible.

The episode underscores the risks for interview-based creators who use artists’ copyrighted material, especially amid public disputes, and the sensitivity of speech in Rwanda’s media and entertainment industries. Public reaction has been mixed, with some welcoming the apology and restoration as a step toward de-escalation, while others remain cautious. No official statement from YouTube or detailed confirmation of the exact restoration mechanism (such as strike retraction) has been widely reported as of October 30.

Yago Pon Dat continues music releases on a separate channel and maintains a presence on other platforms while based partly in Uganda. The channel’s “Big Energy” branding and focus on East African talent remain central to its identity.

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