For the past 12 years, Moroccan popular singer Saad Lamjarred has been arrested over rape and sexual assault several times in France and the United States. Yet, he is still producing music, holding concerts, and growing his fan base online.
Last week, Saad Lamjarred released a new song in collaboration with Lebanese singer Elissa. Their song was immediately one of the most viewed on YouTube, as millions of people flocked to listen to it. The song has also been featured in celebrity weddings ever since, showing no negative impact of his sexual rape cases on his career.
So happy to see a mass refusal by Iraqis to have the sexual predator Saad Lmjared perform in Baghdad, with the hashtag #حفل_سعد_المجرد_مرفوض trending on Iraqi Twitter.
— Ahmed Habib (@ahmedhabib) May 22, 2022
Yet, many young social media users have been pushing toward canceling the singer who has more than 13 million followers online, including urging radio stations to refrain from broadcasting his songs.
How to deal with rapists:
— Dr. Hu (@The_DrHu) May 23, 2022
Expectations: lock that piece of shit up
Reality: welcome, and here’s some money too ?#حفل_سعد_المجرد_مرفوض#حفل_سعد_المجرد_مرفوض_في_العراق#saad_lamjarred_party_is_rejected
Boycott campaigns against Saad Lamjarred have been the most active and successful in Egypt, the country that has repeatedly canceled his concerts over the last two years, in response to strong online campaigns.
However, Lamjarred continues to work and hold concerts around the Arab World from time to time, while his songs achieve massive success on the internet.
We the women of Iraq, who are struggling against all aspects of hatred and racism against women, to hold a party for the rapist Saad Al-Mujarred in Baghdad,and we consider allowing him to enter our land as an insult to all victims of harassment and rape!??#حفل_سعد_المجرد_مرفوض
— ماسة الرَمادي (@mass7__) May 21, 2022
This month, Iraqi activists heavily interacted with the news of his upcoming June concert, calling for the cancellation of the event and hoping more Iraqis would boycott this, still, widely popular singer.
Catch up: A concert by Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred, who has been repeatedly accused of rape, has been canceled in Egypt after a social media outcry, reflecting a growing resolve to speak out against sex crimes.https://t.co/ebfLP91nyz
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) October 16, 2020
Using the hashtag #حفل_سعد_المجرد_مرفوض (Saad Lamjarred's concert is rejected) some commentators hoped that younger people can help raise awareness among Iraqis, highlighting the different charges against Lamjarred so they boycott his work out of respect for women.
