The crisis between Egyptian actress Rania Youssef and Iraqi media personality Nizar Al-Faris continues to dominate social media, with new developments and escalations from Al-Faris after Youssef decided to sue him.
Nizar Al-Faris revealed that he is suing Rania Youssef for defamation and denying facts following the broadcast of their interview. Nizar’s advisor, Haitham Abbas, issued a statement via his personal Facebook account: "As everyone knows, media personality Nizar Al-Faris hosted actress Rania Youssef on his program (With Al-Faris) aired on Al-Rasheed TV. Nizar Al-Faris and his team traveled to Cairo after the actress coordinated a filming location at one of Cairo's luxury hotels. During the preparation for filming, the Egyptian actress fully agreed to all questions except for one related to her personal life, which Nizar Al-Faris respected."
He continued, "The episode was indeed filmed, and after it concluded, the actress expressed her happiness with the work and the dialogue, requesting to visit Baghdad at the earliest opportunity. However, things quickly changed, and media personality Nizar Al-Faris was surprised by the Egyptian actress's attack on his character and her undermining of his professionalism."
He added, "This was a result of the attacks the actress Rania Youssef faced on social media and the many legal actions taken against her, which are matters unrelated to media personality Nizar Al-Faris." He clarified that "what the Egyptian actress is facing is a response to her answers during the interview," pointing out that Rania Youssef unjustly accused Nizar Al-Faris of editing parts of the dialogue and assembling clips to alter the meaning of what she said or intended. If true, this would constitute a serious violation of media ethics, but the reality is that Nizar Al-Faris has not made any mistakes against Rania Youssef, and no part of the dialogue was cut. In fact, when Rania Youssef requested the removal of the hijab question, her request was honored to protect her in light of the backlash she faced."
He concluded by stating, "In light of Rania Youssef's conduct and her ongoing attacks against Nizar Al-Faris, which have resulted in significant material and moral damages to him, he found no option but to seek the legal system in Egypt to obtain his legal rights, and he will present all documentation to resolve the authenticity of what actress Rania Youssef claims."
