The Iraqi journalist Nizar Al-Faris announced that he has filed a lawsuit against actress Rania Youssef in Egypt due to her inappropriate comments about him, in which she questioned his professionalism and accused him of harassment.
Nizar Al-Faris stated that the Egyptian judiciary will resolve the matter between them, emphasizing that there is no personal disagreement but rather a professional one, and they will reunite professionally in the future. He continued, "She accused me of harassment, and I have a family and a reputation in Iraq. I will not tolerate such behavior at all. Should I have to justify to my partner that all these accusations are unfounded?" He explained that Rania Youssef had reviewed the preparation questions before the episode, but it seems that after the episode, she became afraid of the reactions from the Egyptian judiciary and society, noting that she made a grave mistake by placing the responsibility on him, considering that the questions he asked were the cause of the issue she faced. He confirmed: "I am a journalist; I must ask questions, and she must answer them."
Nizar Al-Faris also addressed the issue of Rania Youssef being cleared by the Egyptian judiciary, indicating that this is proof that the error was not on his part. It is worth mentioning that Nizar Al-Faris decided to sue actress Rania Youssef after she filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of defamation and distorting the truth after airing their controversial episode together in recent times.
Nizar Al-Faris requested that Consultant Haitham Abbas take legal action against Rania Youssef after accusing him of cutting parts of their episode in the show "With Al-Faris" to harm her. Haitham Abbas issued a press statement, stating: "As everyone knows, journalist Nizar Al-Faris hosted actress Rania Youssef on his program 'With Al-Faris' aired on Al-Rasheed Iraqi channel. Journalist Nizar Al-Faris and his team moved to Cairo after the actress arranged a filming location in one of Cairo's luxury hotels. During the preparation for the filming, the actress expressed her full approval of all the questions except one regarding her personal life, which journalist Nizar Al-Faris respected. The episode was filmed, and after it ended, the actress expressed her happiness with the work and dialogue and requested to visit Baghdad at the earliest opportunity."
The statement continued: "Suddenly, the situation changed, and journalist Nizar Al-Faris was surprised by the Egyptian actress's attack on him and his professionalism. This was a result of the online backlash Rania Youssef faced and multiple legal actions taken against her, which have nothing to do with journalist Nizar Al-Faris, and what the Egyptian actress is experiencing was a reaction to her answers during the dialogue."
The statement concluded: "The Egyptian actress Rania Youssef went too far and accused journalist Nizar Al-Faris of cutting parts of the dialogue and assembling those clips to change the meaning of what she said or intended. If true, these would constitute an act of media honor violation, contradicting all charters and ethics of the profession. However, in reality, journalist Nizar Al-Faris did not commit any wrongdoing against Rania Youssef, and no part of the dialogue was cut at all. On the contrary, when Rania Youssef requested the removal of the hijab question and her response to it, it was complied with for her protection due to the attack she faced."
The statement concluded: "In light of Rania Youssef's actions and her ongoing attacks on journalist Nizar Al-Faris, resulting in severe material and moral damages, he had no choice but to resort to the Egyptian judiciary to seek his legal rights and will present all documents before it to settle the validity of Rania Youssef's claims."
