The past year has been witnessed to numerous rumors rising about singers and actors in the Arab world. In most cases the rumors were denied by those they targeted and were considered a cheap way of trying to hurt their success. Some believed that the rumors were created by the stars themselves to gain more popularity and be in the spotlight. According to the London based Elaph, following are some of the most famous rumors that appear this year:
• The biggest rumor faced was by prominent Iraqi singer Kathem Al Saher stating the he was the spokesman of the toppled Iraqi regime after the decline of Bhagdad. Kathem preferred silence adding that he is a normal Iraqi citizen who is as much affected by the suffering in his country as anyone else. Another rumor was that he is involved in a very serious relationship with a foreign girl, and that they are to be married in the very near future.
• Egyptian singer Amr Diab was exposed to a rumor that said he had suffered two heart attacks resulting from over exhaustion and forced him to cancel several concerts. The second rumor was that he had decided to end his singing career and retire.
• Lebanese singer Nancy Ajram faced a rumor saying that an Egyptian parliament member asked the government to stop screening her musical video clips and ban her from singing in Egypt. To prove the news was a lie, Nancy flew to Egypt and held several performances, in addition to receiving musical awards for best female singer.
• Egyptian singer Ehab Tawfiq was center of two destructive rumors; first one was his secret marriage from an Egyptian girl, he found out that a girl working at his mobile company was responsible for that rumor. The second one was that Ehab made rude and improper comments live about Tunisian girls while in an interview. IEhab sent a copy of the interview to the Tunisian ministry of culture to prove his innocence and they responded by inviting him to the Carthage festival.
• Back once more to Lebanon, singer Nawal Al Zoughbi was exposed to the same traditional rumors she always faced in the past targeting her family life. It was rumored that she was in the process of getting a divorce due to the fact that her husband, Eli Deeb was in having an affair with another Lebanese singer. Nawal denied such rumors and showed up in many events hand in hand alongside her husband.
• Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama was center of gossip saying that he is in love and intends on leaving his wife, Jihan, for the other woman. Alamah denied all these news asserting that he is very happy with his wife and would never betray their sacred union.
• The last, but not least, hottest gossip pick was Lebanese singer Haifa Wahbi, who was surprised by phone calls from friends wanting to congratulate her for her marriage to a wealthy Arab, and that she is intending to retire singing for him. Haifa refused all these rumors and said that her career is number one priority in her life and that she has many contracts for work in the next coming months.
The coming of the New Year will not put an end to any of these rumors; on the contrary it will lead to the creation of many new ones. Singers, actors, and anyone associated with the entertainment world have come to accept the fact that their stardom means facing such lies being created about them, and that they have to deal with them in the smoothest ways possible. –Albawaba.com
