
Comedian Shaden Fakih announced her intention “not to return to Lebanon immediately,” three months after a controversy sparked by the broadcast of one of her sketches on Islam and religious figures. Known for her outspokenness and criticism of the political and religious establishment, Fakih was targeted by a virulent smear campaign after posting on social media last May an excerpt filmed during a show in Beirut.
"I didn't want to leave the country, but the state can't protect me. I will still speak out and fight," the comedian, who was on tour in Canada when the controversy broke out, said Wednesday. "I've had three difficult months. I had to take care of my mental health," she said in a video posted to her Instagram account, without saying whether she was still in Canada.
The controversy erupted after the publication of an excerpt in which Fakih compared some Muslims to "nouveau riche" and criticized the behavior of certain religious dignitaries. The actress then faced a wave of criticism and threats, before being the subject of complaints from Dar al-Fatwa, the highest Sunni authority in the country, as well as the Higher Shiite Council, for "blasphemy, attack on religious symbols and incitement to sectarian and racist conflicts."
Young woman threatened with rape
"Three months ago, a person who wanted to hurt me decided to sneak into my show and film one of my jokes about religion, knowing that I would never have published such a joke because I know that a large part of the population would not accept it and that those who would accept it would come to see me on stage," she explained on Instagram.
Fakih also admitted that she had been threatened with rape, as had her sister and mother, or with having her "tongue cut out and fed to dogs" since the sketch was broadcast. A demonstration was even organized in May in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, to protest the content of the sketch.
'Union of confessions' against the comedian
"When the joke was published, there was a historic moment. Several confessions united in Lebanon; the Shiite High Council, Dar al-Fatwa and even the Akl sheikhs (representatives of the Druze confession)," she said ironically, referring to the denunciations made by different religious communities. "Whatever the joke, nothing justifies so much violence and this is not how we protect religion," added Fakih.
In 2022, the artist was fined by the military court for “humiliating and damaging the reputation of the Internal Security Forces (ISF).” The young woman was prosecuted after posting a comical video in which she called the ISF and asked if they could deliver sanitary napkins to her due to the restrictions imposed during the lockdown period in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in Lebanon.
In October 2023, the Military Court of Cassation decided to drop the proceedings against the comedian.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.