Sonam Kapoor Slammed For Staying Tight-lipped About Sexual Harassment Claims At Saudi Concert

Most of us might have been to music festivals or live concerts. People from all walks of life gather to dance to the tunes of their favourite entertainer or musician. But among the many people who gather to have a gala time at the fests, there are those who are present to spoil the experience for others. They harass people in the crowd.

Recently Saudi Arabia organised the MDL Beast music, art and culture festival and Riyadh became the host of thousands of spectators from around the world. Several well-known people including celebrities, supermodels, actors, influencers among others were also seen shaking a leg at the fest.

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Day 3 of MDL Beast kept up the party spirit of the soundstorm. Watch the short highlights of the 3rd-and-final-day of the Beast through the link in our bio, or visit our YouTube page for the full experience. #MDLBeast ———————————————————————— كذا كانت متعة وحماس اليوم الثالث والأخير من #مهرجان_مدل_بيست_الموسيقي، وعدنا النسخة الجاية 😍🔥❤.

A post shared by @ mdlbeast on Dec 22, 2019 at 10:22am PST

However, ‘the region’s biggest music event’ garnered backlash from people who reportedly alleged that the fest was organised to create a positive image of Saudi Arabia, reported The Guardian. According to Diet Prada, (an Instagram account with millions of followers that names and shames people from the fashion industry for copying the work of others) the country allegedly invited and ‘paid’ celebrities to ‘rehabilitate the image of Saudi Arabia’ following claims of it causing ‘the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.’

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What’s worse than an all white @revolve influencer trip? Cashing big fat checks in exchange for #content creation (aka propaganda) to rehabilitate the image of Saudi Arabia, a country said to be causing “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, according to the United Nations. According to anonymous sources, six-figure sums were offered for attendance and geo-tagged posts. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Following the government’s pre-meditated murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi in October 2018 , the arrest of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul in May 2018, the outing of a gay Saudi journalist and his partner who began receiving death threats from their families (homosexuality is a crime in Saudi Arabia and punishable by death), and countless other human rights abuses, a bevy of supermodels, influencers, celebrities, and musicians convened in Riyadh for the inaugural @mdlbeast . According to @hypebeast , the electronic music festival is “one of the most significant musical events the region has ever seen”. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Saudi Arabia has been spending billions to change its image in the west, but this is sure to be the most expensive campaign yet. In a series of Instagram stories posted by transgender model @teddy_quinlivan , it was revealed that fellow model @emrata had turned down the trip, evidently aware of the country’s human rights crisis. “It is very important to me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, freedom of expression and the right to a free press. I hope coming forward on this brings more attention to the injustices happening there”, said Ratajkowski in a statement to Diet Prada. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Unfortunately, not all shared the same sentiments. There are simply too many attendees to name. Dieters, feel free to tag any attendees you know of… just in case they haven’t been reading the news. • #propoganda #jamalkashoggi #humanrights #humanrightsabuse #lgbtq #lgbtqrights #freespeech #journalism #independent #womensrights #mdlbeast #edm #electronicmusic #supermodel #influencer #content #riyadh #emrata #emilyratajkowski #teddyquinlivan #model #celebrity #dj #electronicmusic #musicfestival #wtf #smh #government #corruption #dietprada

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Dec 21, 2019 at 2:04pm PST

Some people also took to Twitter and shared how they were sexually exploited, groped and harassed at the electronic dance music festival.

https://twitter.com/yixingbbygirl/status/1208582754125991937

When you go to MDL Beast you should expect wild beasts. If you fear for your life (and dignity), stay away from the jungle.#تحرش_ميدل_بيست pic.twitter.com/qBUaY78HZY

— محمد س. الفوزان (@msalfozan) December 21, 2019

1- Its been 3 days and I’m still fuming from what I saw/experienced at #mdl_beast #مدل_بيست
It was heartbreaking to see how sexual harassment is normalized amongst the majority of male attendees,young&old. but what i find most painful is that our society leapt to blame women.

— Reem M.Y (@Reemyassin) December 22, 2019

Even the Americans are accustomed to these things, but this level of sexual harassment, which was in MDL beast , is not reasonable and it’s something very ugly that every person is ashamed of, and we are the Muslims??? https://t.co/YpIa5jqq6z

— 'ع' (@alia_ibrahimm) December 22, 2019

i was in VIP &old men still had the nerve to come talk and throw comments towards my 16yo sister. we were sitting on a couch and on god this man wasn’t younger than 25 and he comes straight up to my sister and starts harassing her?i had to yell at a grown man for him to fuck off?

— lamar (@thinkharderrr) December 22, 2019

#SaudiMenHarassing I was hopeful of police engagement on the ground to make arrests. I feel ashamed and disgusted with myself right now after seeing the whole thing over and over again for 3 nights nevermind being harrased or subject hostility myself whenever i try to stop it.

— Valeryan Ant Adam (@NaFaSaForreal) December 23, 2019

Men think it’s okay to sexually harass women just because they attended a music festival! They’re making the place unsafe for women to prove banning women from public places is the only way to stop harassment!
#SaudiMenHarassing#تحرش_ميدل_بيست

— M i a (@mia_jk9) December 22, 2019

#SaudiMenHarassing#تحرش_ميدل_بيست
Men in here do the sexual harassment like if it’s normal thing and the community always blame the women, Women can never have fun here in concerts or events because the sexual harassment is everywere.

— ماكارينا (@llllXee) December 22, 2019

The Instagram account also pointed fingers at Sonam Kapoor who was among the many celebrities invited to the fest. It accused Sonam of engaging in ‘image rehab’ for the country and not talking about the alleged sexual harassment that happened at the fest.

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🔊 on #MDLBeast

A post shared by Diet Prada ™ (@diet_prada) on Dec 22, 2019 at 3:44pm PST

However, Sonam was quick to respond to the allegations and said she was ‘treated with immense respect and love as a Hindu brown female actress’.

The account also tagged Sonam to the Instagram stories of the ‘brown girl’ who alleged that she was harassed at the fest.

However, the organisers of the fest haven’t spoken about the harassment cases as of now. Sexual harassment in public places is occurring at a shocking frequency today. While Sonam’s take on the alleged harassment is totally personal, we seriously hope that such nuisance ends in the world, ASAP!