Katia Harb faces legal prosecution over financial dispute with producer

Published March 13th, 2004 - 03:00 GMT

A few days ago, a huge argument broke out between Lebanese singer Katia Harb and her producer/business manager Faten Barazi owner of FB Production Company, which produced Katia's latest album. It has been revealed that Faten sent out a warning statement to all satellite music channels forbidding them to air Katia's latest music video, since she owns sole rights for the work and is the company that produced the work,

According to the London based Elaph, a personal phone call was made to Faten to inquire of the incident, and she confirmed that the news was 100% true. Faten revealed that despite the close friendship that ties her with Katia, which lasted over 6 years, financial matters came in the middle and destroyed it. Faten stressed that she repeatedly asked Katia to sign legal papers regarding financial issues, especially since Faten has spent over 300 thousands US dollars on preparing the album, which includes production, recording and filming of video clips, and asked to be compensated but to no avail. Katia refused to pay Faten back and simply told her that no one had forced her to put in any financial contributions and that she did it of her own free will.

Faten admitted that she neglected making her cooperation with Katia legal because of their close friendship, but she never thought that Katia would take advantage of this fact and disregard her in such a way. Faten added that she holds in her possession all the bills she paid, but Katia refuses to accept them. Faten stressed that if Katia will not compensate her then she will take legal actions against her.

Katia held a huge celebration for the release of her latest album under the title "Katia" in the presence of a large number of stars from Egypt and Lebanon. The singer's guest list ranged from journalists, important figures, singers, actors, directors, and much more.

Miss Lebanon 2003 was the announcer at the big event along with Jalal Shahda. Katia did not consider the celebration as merely for the signing of her album, but also as a gathering of friends and loved ones. Katia revealed that she named the album after herself as to not distinguish one song from another, especially since she considers it to be the best she has ever produced. The singer has revealed that her new album features different styles, which is to include songs sung in the Egyptian dialect a first time attempt for her.

The singer shot the music video for the song “Aad El Hub” (Are You Up For Love) under the direction of Egyptian director Othman Abu Al Laban in Egypt. Harb has gained popularity and fame throughout the past eight years, which marks the time of her singing career, by singing songs in the Lebanese accent, Khaleeji (Gulf), as well as in foreign languages. Katia revealed that she will release her fourth album this spring sung mainly in the Egyptian accent, a first time experience for her. The album's songs are written by poet Bahjat Amar and composed by Amro Mustafa. - Albawaba.com