Tag: racism

  • Hassan Minhaj says New Yorker lied and he has the receipts

    Hassan Minhaj says New Yorker lied and he has the receipts

    American Comedian of Indian origin Hasan Minhaj, most famous for his Netflix standup special “Patriot Act” has lately found himself in a heated controversy post a New Yorker article which questioned the authenticity of anecdotes he has shared over the time in his performances.

    Hasan’s comedy is mostly centred around the racism faced by the diaspora and his quintessential ‘desi’ upbringing in a country like America. He has jokingly called himself ABCD (American Born Confused Desi). The article, titled Hasan Minhaj’s “Emotional Truths” criticised him for exaggeration of some of the incidents he has told, specifically his high school prom experience, an encounter with an FBI informant and a fictionalised anthrax scare.

    The writer of the article related his experience of seeing Hasan at a comedy club where he had said that “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth,” he reportedly has acknowledged that his comedy is seventy percent emotional truth-this happened-and then thirty percent hyperbole, exaggeration and fiction. He was further accused of using racism and islamophobia as a medium to establish his career.

    Minhaj has released a video on his YouTube channel and Instagram handle in response to this article. “With everything happening in the world, I’m aware that even talking about this now feels so trivial, but being accused of faking racism is not trivial. It is very serious and demands an explanation” he stated in the beginning. Treading on the safe side, he further acknowledges that “I made artistic choices to express myself and drive home larger issues affecting me and my community, and I feel horrible that I let people down.”

    However, he goes on to explain his side of the story for he felt that the article painted him in a negative light and a “con artist” who uses racism and Islamophobia to “advance his career”.

    While relating the prom story he referred to the doxed girl as Bethany Reed to protect her identity. Messages from the girl after a show displayed appreciation for his support and protection.

    He appreciated the creative liberty he has taken with the story of FBI informant in his show The King’s Jester but the underlying objective was to highlight the issue of FBI infiltration in Muslim communities. Using humour and presenting the story in an engaging manner is his forte and part of a job as a comedian. His intention was not deceive but to convey a tint of truth that comes with it.

    Lastly, Minhaj responded to the allegation of fabrication in his story of anthrax scare where he framed it in a way as to let audiences feel the shock he and his wife went through. The character of the investigator was certainly introduced to balance it out.

    He delineated in detail about his two roles. One of the storyteller comedian and the other of a political comedian. “In my work as a storytelling comedian I assumed that the lines between truth and fiction were allowed to be a bit blurrier and I totally get why a journalist would be interested to know where that line sits,”

    Minhaj reasserted, “If the reporter was genuinely curious about the idea of truth in standup, they would have had to report that the majority of my stories are true. But their article led with the opposite.”

  • ‘I was so confused’: Ice Spice addressed controversial comments by Matty Healy in podcast

    ‘I was so confused’: Ice Spice addressed controversial comments by Matty Healy in podcast

    Lead singer of the band ‘The 1975’, Matty Healy, created controversy earlier this year when while dating Taylor Swift, clips from an old podcast ‘The Adam Freidland Show’ emerged where he was seen passing racist comments about the rapper Ice Spice. The ‘About You’ singer was heard referring to the rapper as “one of the Inuit Spice Girls” and also called her “a f***ing Eskimo”. Swifties were outraged and Healy apologised.

    Now Ice Spice has addressed the controversy during an interview with Variety.

    The ‘Barbie World’ star revealed that when she heard the comments, she was quite confused:

    “When I had heard that little podcast or whatever, I was so confused. Because I heard ‘chubby Chinese lady’ or some shit like that, and I’m like, ‘Huh? What does that even mean? First of all, I’m thick. What do you mean Chinese? What?”

    The singer had apologised to the rapper, as Ice Spice noted, and they met at a party a few days ago where Matty had again apologised. She continued, “The whole time, I didn’t really care. But that’s funny because I saw him at the Jean Paul Gaultier party a couple days ago, and he was like, ‘Hey, you OK?’ and I’m like, ‘Of course.’ He apologized to me a bunch of times. We’re good.”

    Ice Spice also opened up about her friendship with Taylor Swift with whom she has collaborated on a new version of her song ‘Karma’. “That’s my sis. We was talking about a bunch of things. She’s so funny. We was sipping on a little something something. Just chatting, vibing.”

    Taylor also gushed about the rapper and in an email she had written “I relate to Ice in many ways, but I think her dedication and focus is what blew me away from the very start. She’s extremely professional without being cold. Playful and fun without ever taking her eye off the prize.”

  • ‘A patient revealed she was kicked out of her house by her husband because of her stretch marks’: Shaista Lodhi

    ‘A patient revealed she was kicked out of her house by her husband because of her stretch marks’: Shaista Lodhi

    Actress and aesthetic physician Shaista Lodhi appeared as a guest on the ‘The Talk Talk Show’ where she spoke about her career as an aesthetic physician, who provides cosmetic medical surgeries to celebrities, politicians and the general public. She spoke about the dark side of her career, revealing that young women and girls come to her after being bullied by men about their features.

    The ‘Samjhota’ actress said that many young girls and women visited her clinic led by insecurity about their features, after their husbands send them pictures.

    “Those pictures were given to them by their fiancés,” revealed Shahista. “Then I tell them that they should get rid of this man first. Can you imagine? It’s such an insult for a man to tell you to look like this woman.”

    Shahista shared another horrifying instance where a patient came with her husband, who jokingly asked the surgeon to make his wife look like her. The actress recalled feeling outraged and wanting to lash out at the man.

    “You can see the way women are treated in our society,” lamented the ‘Pardes’ actress. “That girl was sitting in a corner and politely laughing while I wanted to slap him right away. But that woman kept silent, even though it must be torturous for her to stay with such a man who keeps taunting her with things like ‘Tumharay baal hain’, ‘tumharay boaht ziada baal hain’..”

    Shahista Lodhi said women are consistently scrutinized and made to feel inferior because of their looks, and bullied by their in-laws over things like their skin coloror body type. She went on to point out that these things don’t prove that there is a problem with women, but it is men who have complexes.

    Shahista further stressed that if people want to get plastic surgery, they should, but never at the cost of their insecurities.

    When asked about she deals with women coming to her wanting to change features, Shahista spoke about the time a woman came to her clinic asking to remove her stretch marks because she was kicked out her house- which completely shocked the actress.

    “Three days ago a woman came to me and said she recently delivered a baby, and her husband kicked her out of the house because of her stretch marks. And the woman had been staying at her mother’s house for the past 20 days.

    “I tried in any way I could to console her and tell her she’s earned this. Allah made you a gift, and you’re not alone in this. How could a man tell you this!”

    Shahista re-called the woman begging her to fix her marks so she might save her marriage, and the actress said “If you think fixing your stretch marks would save your marriage, then its better such a union never happened!”

    Kudo’s to Shahista for taking such a powerful standard against imposing such beauty standards on women- and reminding them that its not worth fixing a marriage where you are imposed into taking such measures.

  • CNN has exacerbated my ‘pain and suffering’, says Saima Mohsin

    British-Pakistani journalist Saima Mohsin, has won the right to take her former employee, CNN, to a full tribunal at the London Central Employment Tribunal. As per her claims, she was unfairly dismissed and discriminated against following an injury she sustained on an assignment in Israel.

    Previously, CNN claimed that Mohsin cannot bring the matter into a court in London under her contract but following a preliminary hearing last month, Judge Klimov ruled in Mohsin’s favour, allowing her to proceed with her case to sue CNN for negligence.

    Saima Mohsin currently works with Sky News on a freelance basis and has a programme on ITV about living with invisible disabilities.

    In 2014, Mohsin was reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict from Jerusalem when her cameraman ran over her foot. This damaged her tissue, resulting in chronic pain, forcing her to walk with a stick and reducing her to work part-time only. Mohsin suffered from depression as a consequence. In 2017, CNN terminated her contract. As per a Guardian report, Saima had requested CNN if she could switch to a presenting role in order to reduce the amount of time spent travelling but she was told “You don’t have the look we are looking for”.

    Later, according to Deadline.com, Mohsin “repeatedly indicated her willingness to settle outside of legal proceedings, but CNN has so far declined to do so”. She also said that the news network has exacerbated her “pain and suffering” by continuing with the legal action.

    In her statement, Saima Mohsin said, “I have constantly offered reinstatement or mediation and negotiations. I didn’t ask for this battle while learning to deal with an invisible disability and rebuild my life. But it was important I take a stand.”

  • Lizzo sued after three former dancers accuse her of sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior

    Lizzo sued after three former dancers accuse her of sexual harassment, unprofessional behavior

    Grammy award winning singer Lizzo was sued by former dancers in her troupe for sexual harassment, hostile work environment and body shaming.

    In a lawsuit filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court, three former dancers accused Lizzo, and the captain of her dance team Shirlene Quigley, for religious harassment, body shaming. In one of the incidents cited in the suit, after a performance at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival, dancer Arianna Davis was told that she seemed ‘less committed’ to her role- a comment which thinly suggested she needed to lose weight.

    Another dancer was scolded after the singer called to attention their weight gain, and later fired the same dancer after she had recorded a meeting because of a health condition.

    “The stunning nature of how Lizzo and her management team treated their performers seems to go against everything Lizzo stands for publicly, while privately she weight-shames her dancers and demeans them in ways that are not only illegal but absolutely demoralizing,” Zambrano said in a statement.

    Lizzo has been open about embracing body diversity, releasing several songs like ‘Good as hell’ and ‘Juice’, which encouraged women to love their curves as they are.

    The suit described how the dancers were put in uncomfortable positions including an Amsterdam trip to a strip club, where Lizzo allegedly pressurised the cast members to touch the nude performers, including Ms. Davis despite her reluctance. When Davis obliged and briefly touched the performer, the crowd began laughing. Afterwards, Lizzo pushed a member of the security staff on the stage and began yelling ‘take it off!’, according to the staff present.

    “Plaintiffs were aghast with how little regard Lizzo showed for the bodily autonomy of her employees and those around her, especially in the presence of many people whom she employed,” the suit detailed.

    A week later, after a performance in Paris, the suit reveals the dancers were invited by Lizzo to a club, but they were shocked to discover that it was actually a nude cabaret bar.

    The suit said the plaintiffs were “shocked that Lizzo would conceal the nature of the event from them, robbing them of the choice not to participate.”

    The suit also described the instances of racial and religious harassment dancers had faced, who were the sole women of color present in the group. On one instance, a former dancer requested 50% compensation for her downtime, and the accountant began scolding her for being “unacceptable and disrespectful” and instead offered 25%.

    “Only the dance cast — comprised of full-figured women of color — were ever spoken to in this manner,” the claim stated.

    Dancers were also subjected to pressure to convert to Christianity by the dance captain, Quigley, who preached her Christian beliefs and “took every opportunity to proselytize to any and all in her presence regardless of protestations.” Several cast members asked her to stop pressurising the dancer Rodriguez about her faith, whom Quigley described as a ‘non-believer’, the accused had responded:

    “No job and no one will stop me from talking about the Lord.”

    Lizzo has not responded to the lawsuit, but several other public figures since then have come forward with accusations of rude behavior and unprofessionalism from the pop singer. Filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison shared that she dropped out as director for Lizzo’s documentary in 2019, citing rudeness from the ‘Cuz I Love You’ singer.

    Lizzo’s former creative director, along with another former dancer, had sent their support to the dancers who had filed the lawsuit against the ‘Juice’ singer.

  • Oppenheimer slammed for including sacred Bhagavad Gita text during sex scene

    Oppenheimer slammed for including sacred Bhagavad Gita text during sex scene

    Warning: Spoilers

    Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ opened in theatres across the world this weekend, with Cillian Murphy putting in a critically acclaimed performance as the American scientist J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

    One of the most pivotal moments about the film was Oppenheimer’s deep respect and admiration of the Hindu text ‘Bhagavad Gita’ which is part of the ‘Mahabharata’. The epic contains a dialogue between Prince Arjun and the divine Krishna as the former struggles with a moral dilemna. Oppenheimer famously quoted the lines ‘Now I am become death. Destroyer of the worlds’ after the first detonation of the atomic bomb on July 16, 1945.

    Murphy said in an interview that he consulted the text while preparing to perform in the film, and described it as “beautiful and inspiring”.

    However, a controversy arose from a sex scene between Jean Tatlock (played by Florence Pugh) and Oppenheimer, when she searches his book shelf, finds the Bhagavad Gita and holds it to her bare chest and asks Oppenheimer to recite the text while continuing intercourse.

    Hindus on Twitter have slammed the scene as insulting and insensitive towards their religion, with many calling for the government to ban ‘Oppenheimer’ in the country.

  • Buzzfeed’s AI-generated Barbie Dolls article faces backlash for racial stereotypes

    Buzzfeed’s AI-generated Barbie Dolls article faces backlash for racial stereotypes

    Popular website Buzzfeed published an article featuring AI-generated images of Barbie Dolls from every country around the world. The piece has received extreme backlash for promoting racist micro-aggressions and cultural inaccuracies, which prompted the website to delete the article from all of their social media pages.

    Buzzfeed had given a brief disclaimer before the article that they acknowledged the biases and stereotypes demonstrated by AI models, clarifiying that these depictions should not be seen as accurate or comprehensive portrayals of human experiences.

    The article featured Barbies from all around the world, including one from Pakistan, who looked more like she stepped out of an Arabian fantasy book rather than from the streets of Lahore or Karachi.

    And the Barbie from India looks a lot more like subcontinent’s colonial masters than Deepika Padukone, the ACTUAL Barbie.

    And don’t even get me started on what the Afghanistan Barbie looks like. It’s a shame how a vibrant culture is reduced to burqas by racist algorithms

    A lot of the dolls featured in the article from Asian countries like Vietnam and Korea were wearing inaccurate clothing along with white-washed features.

    A Barbie from South Sudan was seen carrying a gun, drawing outrage from users.

  • ‘Used to wish that my name was normal and English like Hannah’: Dua Lipa

    ‘Used to wish that my name was normal and English like Hannah’: Dua Lipa

    Dua Lipa is one of the biggest stars in the music industry today with her iconic looks as well as bops like ‘Levitating’ and the Barbie soundtrack ‘Dance the night’. The BBC reports that the Albanian-English pop star has revealed she wasn’t always so sure she would end up working in the entertainment industry because of her heritage, as well as her name.

    “From a young age, I had the dream to be a pop star but it never seemed like something that was actually possible,” the ‘New Rules’ singer shared. “I’ve been a new girl all my life.”

    “There was always the idea of being from two places at once,” the ‘Barbie’ actress continued. “I understood the duality of my heritage from an early age. People would always ask where my name is from. I was really proud of it, but when I was younger I wished my name was, say, Hannah — something ‘normal’ and English.”

    But these insecurities didn’t hold the superstar back, making her more determined to pursue a career in music, and influencing her decision to move back to London at the age of 15 to give her GCSE’s while her family moved to Kosovo, and shared a flat with the daughter of family friends:

    “I was quite determined,” recalled Dua. “I didn’t feel I had the same opportunities in music as I had in London. I was driven. My dad says I’m very hard to say no to!”

    She revealed how at the age of 17, after finishing her studies she set her mind on making it in the music industry:

    “I was really persistent. I just started writing a lot, worked with a producer. I was 17. I was offered a publishing deal but [producer] Felix told me to go to a lawyer, who said, ‘Don’t sign that deal!’ They then helped me get into the studio.”

    Dua Lipa is set to star in the upcoming Greta Gerwig film ‘Barbie’ which has Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in main roles.

  • Buckingham Palace reject’s request to send remains of Ethiopian prince to family

    Buckingham Palace has once again rejected a request from Ethiopian officials to send back the body of Prince Alemayehu, who passed away at the age of 18 in the United Kingdom.

    Born in Magdala in 1861, Alemayehu was only seven years old when the British arrived in Ethiopia in 1868 and laid seige to Tewodro’s mountain fortress which led to a fierce battle that ended with the death of the emperor, Tewodros II.

    The British stole many valuable artefacts and heirlooms, along with the Empress Tiruwork Wube and her son, Prince Alemayehu. By the time the young prince arrived in the UK, he was an orphan after his mother died during the journey.

    After his arrival, Queen Victoria took sympathy upon the boy, taking up financial responsibility for his expenses.

    Alemaheyu was first sent to a public school, and then to a military college in Sandhurst where he was bullisd. A private tutor was hired to teach him at his home in Leeds, where he became ill and began refusing treatement, fearing he was poisoned.

    The prince also reportedly longed to go back home, as correspondence had shown, but this idea was constantly shut down.

    Alemayehu passed away at his home at the age of 18.

    Queen Victoria had written about her sadness in her diary:

    “Very grieved and shocked to hear by telegram, that good Alemayehu had passed away this morning. It is too sad! All alone, in a strange country, without a single person or relative, belonging to him,” she wrote.

    “His was no happy life, full of difficulties of every kind, and was so sensitive, thinking that people stared at him on account of his colour… Everyone is very sorry.”

    Demands for the return of the remains of Prince Alemaheyu date back to 2007, when the country’s then-president Girma Wolde-Gior sent a formal request to Queen Elizabeth II, but nothing came of it.

    Recently, a spokesperson from the Buckingham Palace sent a statement to the BBC explaining their refusal to send the remains back to his home, stating that shifting his remains would disturb the other bodies buried at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

    “It is very unlikely that it would be possible to exhume the remains without disturbing the resting place of a substantial number of others in the vicinity,” the palace responded.

    They further mentioned in the statement that the Royal Palace has awlays accomodated those from Ethiopia who wished to visit the prince’s resting place, and were aware of the need to honor Prince Alemaheyu’s memory.

    Speaking to the BBC, Faisal Minas, a descendant of the Royal Family in Ethiopia, said:

    “We want his remains back as a family and as Ethiopians because that is not the country he was born in. It was not right for him to be buried in the UK.”

  • Trouble, Trouble, Trouble: Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Matty Healy faces backlash from fans for problematic history of islamophobia, racism, sexist jokes

    Trouble, Trouble, Trouble: Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Matty Healy faces backlash from fans for problematic history of islamophobia, racism, sexist jokes

    We knew you were trouble when you walked in like quite literally the receipts are right here.

    Taylor Swift made headlines when the ‘Anti Hero’ singer started dating the frontman of The 1975 band, Matty Healy, after splitting up from her longtime boyfriend, Joe Alwyn.

    However, the news was not received well by fans, who criticised Healy’s problematic history of making racist, sexist and Islamophobic jokes.
    Swift has been extremely vocal about her activism for gay rights and feminism, with songs like ‘Mad Woman’ discussing female rage and sexism, and ‘You Need To Calm Down’ from her Lover album empowering the transgender community.

    It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero? Not for Tay-Tay it seems.

    Fans began sharing clips and problematic posts Healy had posted in the past where he appeared to be mocking Islam. For instance, a fan shared a screenshot of his Instagram stories with a tweet:

    “You start dating a Muslim girl then BOOM”

    Another user shared a clip of ‘The City’ singer’s interview with Brut Mexico where he slammed religious people by saying they should be ashamed of themselves, addin that he had no rights as an athiest.

    “Religious people are always allowed to be offended: ‘Oh, we’re offended by this, I’m offended by that,’ I have to get up every day and read something abhorrent that’s happened in the name of religion.”

    https://twitter.com/msatermnid/status/1657258113324441601?s=20

    The ‘Medicine’ singer has been slammed for his controversial racist and sexist comments about rapper Ice Spice. During his appearance at The Adam Freidland Show, the episode was immediately pulled from Spotify and Apple after backlash, but is still available on Youtube.

    Healy had also courted controversy in January when videos emerged of him doing the Nazi salute on stage, a move that has enraged many Swifties

    These recent controversies have led to many Swifties starting to retract their support for Swift, and even criticising her for working with problematic men but yet being quite vocal about social issues.

    Fans even began using the hashtag #speakupnow to demand Swift addressed the problematic history of her boyfriend, and stand up for the rights she claims to be advocating.

    https://twitter.com/laurenelectro/status/1658968672428343297?s=20