'You're Stupid': Saudi Minister Shuts Down Reporter Asking About MBS Hack of Bezos' Phone

During his participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman appeared in an ITV News video declining to answer a British reporter's question and calling him 'stupid' when asked about the alleged hack of Jeff Bezos' phone by MBS.  

The video features ITV's Business and Economics Editor Joel Hills asking Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman whether The Guardian's story about the Saudi crown prince's personal involvement in the hack scandal held any truth.

The minister points out that he's the minister of energy, suggesting that it's not his place to answer such a question. The journalist went on to ask him about the reasons that could drive Saudi Arabia to hack Bezos' personal property, but the minister insisted that Hills was "asking the wrong question at the wrong place." 

The ITV reporter makes his question more specific by asking, "is Jeff Bezos a legitimate target?" A few moments later the minister smiles and can be heard saying "you're stupid" to which Hills exclaims, "I am stupid, sir?" The Saudi minister responds with a direct, "yes."

After ITV posted the video, many Saudi social media users expressed their support of the minister saying that as a minister of energy it's not his responsibility to respond to such questions.

Others pointed out that it's his right to refrain from answering questions that are "based on gossip," suggesting that the journalist wanted to embarrass the Saudi delegate during the global event.

On Tuesday, The Guardian published a shocking investigation that revealed information about the Saudi crown prince's personal involvement in hacking Washington Post and Amazon's owner Jeff Bezos in May 2018. These revelations linked the cyber attack with Saudi's involvement in the gruesome murder of Washington Post's Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul later that year.

Following The Guardian's report, analysts suggested that the crown prince may have wanted to obtain information that can be used to blackmail the owner of the well-known American daily in the event that he accuses the Saudi prince of silencing Khashoggi.

Reactions on Saudi social media to new revelations have largely been supportive of the crown prince, taking a very different tone from reactions elsewhere around the world. Many have instead chosen to focus on the content of the data leaked from Jeff Bezos' phone in February 2019, referring to his extramarital affair that ended his 26-year marriage to MacKenzie Bezos.

In its Thursday editorial, prominent Saudi newspaper Okaz highlighted Bezos' romantic affair with his current girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, while posting a photo of the American businessman hugging Khashoggi's Turkish fiancée Hatice Cengiz during the journalists memorial. The editorial piece was titled Jeff Bezos, Fleeing From Sin Using Accusation.

Additionally, Saudi Twitter users started the hashtag #قاطعوا_منتجات_امازون (Boycott Amazon Products) that quickly made it to the top of the trending list, where they called for a boycott of Amazon's products and services until Bezos 'apologizes' to the kingdom, expressing their support for the crown prince.