Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Video: Tunisia Hates Sherine

An attempt to get a few laughs from the crowd has backfired tremendously on the Egyptian singer/song-writer.

Staff Writer

Egyptian superstar singer Sherine Abdel Wahhab has received severe backlash for a joke she made on stage during her concert set in Carthage, Tunisia. Sherine remarked that her daughter did not know what Tunisia was when Sherine first told her she was performing there, and instead thought she was referring to parsley (ba2doonis). The comments blew up social media, with Tunisians becoming outraged that the singer had the audacity to compare their country to a common garden herb, causing the hashtag “#تونس_مش_بقدونس” to blow up Twitter’s trending now list.

Sherine has since backtracked on her comments by professing her love for Tunisia and stating that her daughter’s education “is primarily in English, so she does not know Arabic”, and that she “did not wish to offend anyone" she just wanted "to portray the innocence of a young child.” She continued to assert that if people did not like hearing her speak, she will stop talking on the stage completely. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Are these comments being taken out of proportion in a classic case of Arab over-sensitivity, or should Sherine stick to singing instead and ditch stand-up comedy for good? You can decide yourself, by watching the video attached below.This incident comes just a month after a different Sherine outburst at the Amr Youssef and Kinda Alloush wedding where she openly dissed Amr Diab while she was reportedly seemed "inebriated", with some offensive comments about the Egyptian megastar. “We don’t have anyone else but them (Tamer Hosny and Mohamed Hamaki), and I want to say that – pause – his time has passed. He’s gotten too old (Amr Diab),” Sherine proclaimed right before the groom took away the microphone to stop her from continuing. “I love you and I love your honesty, but the wedding is going to be ruined, people are here to have fun,” Youssef jokingly said. Sherine doubled down on her statements by saying in an interview that she "meant every word she said."