Meesha Shafi Vs. Ali Zafar

By Sana Zehra

She said:

“I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry Ali Zafar”

He said:

“I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi. I intend to take this through the courts of law and to address this professionally and seriously rather than to lodge any allegations”

Story so far

The story was quickly picked up by international media with Hollywood actress and #MeToo campaigner Rose McGowan (one of the actresses who helped bring down Miramax former head Harvey Weinstein) lending support to Meesha Shafi and tweeting, “A heroine for our times. I stand with Meesha Shafi.”

More women also came out, including blogger Humna Raza who tweeted “…I stood next to him and felt his hand go up the side of my waist…I knew what just happened.”

Leena Ghani, makeup artist and sister of Maheen Taseer, also gained the courage to speak up on the matter, writing, “In the many years I have known Ali, he has, on many occasions, crossed boundaries of what is appropriate behaviour between friends.”

LUMS alumna and journalist Maham Javaid took to Twitter to recount an incident where Ali Zafar had tried to force himself on her cousin and pull her “into a restroom with him.” She added that they considered reporting him but since he is a celebrity, no one would have believed them.

Artists who have lent support to Meesha Shafi include Urwa Hocane, Momina Sibtain and Osman Khalid Butt.

Meanwhile, others rose up to defend Ali Zafar. Lahore-based singer Kanza Munir refuted Meesha Shafi’s allegations of sexual harassment against the star on Instagram, “I stand witness to this particular ‘jam’ late last year that Meesha mentions….The whole house band along with myself and another fellow female vocalist (Aqsa Ali) were present during this session (on 21st December 2017) and whatever interaction took place between the two was in front of at least 10 other people.”

Aqsa Ali too vociferously seconded Kanza stating on Facebook,” I was at this jam session becoz I sing in Ali’s band and so was her manager and our entire band. I am astonished that she would take a lie to this level which so many of us can prove wrong.”

Fahad Rehman, former manager of Meesha Shafi , described her“terrible temper” and added, “Now I don’t know what happened between Ali and her (Meesha) but I do know that she has the capability to blackmail and malign one’s reputation. Without hard evidence, I would take everything she says with a ton of salt.”

India Today quoted a source, “Meesha Shafi performed with Ali Zafar on stage on her own free will. She was hired to perform (in a concert in Islamabad on 23rd December 2017) independently of Ali as both did their separate performances first and only came together at the end to do a few songs. Her income or hiring for this show would have in no way been affected had she said she would not like to perform next to Ali”.

The latest till the time GT went to press

Team Ali Zafar has filed a defamation suit of Rs. 100 million against Meesha if she fails to issue an apology to Ali Zafar on electronic media within two weeks. Advocate Ali Sibtain Fazli, who is the legal counsel of Ali Zafar (as well as his father in law), said the media will be informed of further proceedings in the case.

Meesha Shafi has also hired the services of two lawyers to defend her case in court.

Rumour has it there’s trouble in Imran Khan-Bushra Maneka’s paradise not over another woman but a dog, or five. “My Motu (pet dog) is in Bani Gala and I have four more dogs,” said the great Khan of his favourite pets.

Pinky Pirni it turns out is not so fond of dogs and resents that Imran shares/d a bedroom with Motu. She has asked for the dogs be kenneled at a distance from the main house, but Imran is not budging. Let’s see who wins this battle.

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it that Areeba Habib is in hot water now a days after posting the video mocking Zara Noor Abbas’s ramp walk. The video might be just girls having fun but a lot of people were disgusted how Areeba thought that rape jokes are funny. Tsk, tsk! Rape isn’t a verb you can just throw around.

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it that we will be seeing Sana Bucha pretty soon on our TV screens. Do we see Laykan in the fore future? Only time will tell!

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it Ayesha Omer is also coming forth about being sexually harassed, but is still finding the courage to speak up about it.

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it that Lahore Se Agey producer Fizza Ali Meerza is in trouble for booing Ahad Raza Mir publicly for winning the award for Best Actor. This and more was all caught on tape at this year’s Lux Style Awards. While the fans and other media personalities demand an apology, we haven’t heard from Fizza as of yet and we are still waiting, tick tock…

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it after Diplo, Eminem is all set to perform in Pakistan and we can’t wait!

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it Jemima Khan is all ready to turn into a film mogul. Her new project is apparently a 4 part documentary focusing on the hit podcast serial exploring the murder of Hae Min and conviction of Adnan Syed.

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it our favourite couple Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik have announced the pregnancy in the cutest way possible!

………………………………………………………………………..

Rumour has it that Kanye West is under fire for reportedly saying “He Loves Donald Trump.” Our lips are sealed on that one.

………………………………………………………………………..

On the other hand

After tabloids printed that Jennifer Lopez took out a $27 million policy on her famous rearside, she had to go on late-night television to deny that rumor. Though some appraisers would give it a similar or higher value 🙂

Rumour has it Karachi actor Bilal Ashraf is seeing Lahore model Alyzeh Gabol

Disclaimer: The information, view or opinion expressed in this article/post has not been verified by us and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of GT magazine.