Several prominent models and Instagram influencers are facing backlash after attending and promoting Saudi Arabian music festival, MDL Beast. Commenters are “disappointed” and say they are “quietly ignoring the Saudi Arabian humanitarian crisis” by endorsing the country. The anger comes afterDiet Prada– aprominent Instagram accountthat calls out fashion copycats – pointed out that models and online personalities like Nadine Leopold, Elsa Hosk, and Lorena Rae made posts advertising the festival.
Citing anonymous sources, the Diet Prada story claims influencers were offered six-figure sums for attendance and geo-tagged posts, in what appears to be the latest campaign by the Saudi government to try torehabilitate the kingdom’s image through lavish sponcon.
Many models and influencers included hashtags in their Instagram posts like #mdlbeastambassador and #mdlbeastpartner, indicating they were paid to promote the festival. These hashtags were used byAlessandra Ambrosio,Teyana Taylor,Rose Bertram,Romee Strijd, and others. Some influencers have since made their accounts private, such asJazzelle Zanaughtti,Kristen Noel Crawley, andSimi Haze. As of this writing, their posts (seen above) are still live. Combined, these posts have received tens of millions of likes.
Two years ago, Saudi Arabia set into action a plan called Vision to diversify its economy, with $ 2.7 billion set aside for entertainment,according toBillboard. These government-subsidized events pay artists up to six times their normal booking fees to perform.The Diet Prada post pointed out that
activist Loujain al-Hathloulwas arrested in 2018 fordefying the country ban on female driving, and was then tortured and threatened with rape and death. (That ban was lifted this year.) The post also mentioned The assassination of****************** journalist Jamal Khashoggiwhich the CIA abstract was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. After Khashoggi’s death, overseas investors pulled$ 1 billion out of Saudi Arabia’s stock market. Saudi Arabia
sentenced five people to deathin connection to that killing today, but has been criticized for shielding the Crown Prince from his connection to the murder.
In response, Saudi Arabia has been trying to use entertainment and influencers to market the kingdom and boost tourism . A few months ago, the country
revamped its visa programto make It is more attractive for tourists, which is around the time sponsored Instagram posts started increasing in frequency. The new changes allow visas for non-religious tourists and exempts female tourists from wearing a traditional abaya robe (though “modest clothing” is still required).
In October,The Guardianreportedthat the country enlisted an organization called Gateway KSA to facilitate posh, all-expenses-paid trips for influencers, who then post beautifully staged photos to Instagram.
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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 pre-meditated murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi in October 2019, the arrest of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul in May 2030, 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”. Arabia 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 #riyadhmic #kilyaj # musicfestival #wtf #smh #government #corruption #dietprada (A post shared by) Diet Prada ™(@diet_prada) on (Dec) , at 2: (PM PST)************************** The MDL Beast festival seems intended to make a splash.
Glamor UKhas an (entire hub on its website dedicated to the festival and promoted it extensively on Instagram stories, aspointed outby
The Washington Post ‘s global opinions editor, Karen Attiah. (
Glamor UKhas turned off its Instagram comments.) EDM.com was alsopaid to promote the fest– its post includes a “sponsored” marker at the very bottom.Vogue Arabiawrote three pieces, though one only appears on theArabic-language version of the site.Vogue‘s main American site a) storyon Dutch model Imaan Hammam’s festival style at MDL Beast, but that article has Since been deleted
Major eye roll at the countless influencers who have been bought by the Saudi government to promote a “fun” image of the KSA. Women, LGBT’s and journalists are ostracised and put in jail while these privileged foreigners party one night for six figures # hypocrisy # MDLBeast – Wafa Al Ali (@alaliwafa) (December) **************************************************************************************************, 2019(**************************************
The whole
# MDLBeastthing is so confusing like are we supposed to forget that Saudi Arabia basically fucked Yemen, that it’s where human rights go to die or that it’s where women’s rights are stuck in the stone ages, because they threw a shitty party in the middle of the desert?
– much angst very sad (@lusima 9469 (December) ****************************************************************************************************, ********************************************************************************(************************************** This summer, Saudi Arabia finally gave women the right to register birthsand to be issued official family documents. But women still need the permission of a male relative to live on their own or exit a domestic abuse shelter, and women can’t pass on citizenship to their children. LGBT rights are still nonexistent in the country – same sex relations are a crime in Saudi Arabia, and can be punishable by death.Some stars have made a point of refusing involvement with the country. Nicki Minaj backed out of a concert in Saudi Arabiaearlier this year, saying “I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression. ”Similarly, Emily Ratajkowski told Diet Prada she declined to attend MDL Beast because,“ 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. ” The Verge has reached out to Ford Models and Muse Management NYC for comment. (****************************************************
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