Lebanese pop star calls Nubians ‘monkeys’

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Racism, pop star style: One of the Arab world’s best-known singers is in trouble over an apparently racist song. Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe’s new song “Where is Daddy?” contains a reference in the refrain to “Nubian monkeys“. Black Egyptians from the Nubian community are livid and an official complaint has been filed against Wehbe in the Egyptian judicial system.

The song in question was written for her by an Egyptian songwriter:

The latest accusations of racism came after the release of her new song, Where is Daddy?, in which a child sings to Wehbe, “Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?”.

Wehbe has since apologised profusely for the offending lyrics, insisting they were penned by an Egyptian songwriter who told her that “Nubian monkey” was an innocent term for a popular children’s game. That hasn’t stopped a group of Nubian lawyers submitting an official complaint to Egypt’s public prosecutor and calling for the song to be banned.

Wehbe cultivates a careful public image that is a mix of Beyonce and Madonna — and which might surprise many who imagine the Arab world as being stuck in cultural conservatism. The singer has been in calculated contraversies before; she made public statements supporting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war and has tweaked the same clerics with songs like Ya Ibn El Halal (Hey, Good Little Muslim Boy). Wehbe is also known for her skimpy on-stage outfits, a 2006 reality show and for her tumultuous personal life.

In the court complaint filed against Wehbe, several Nubian-Egyptians allege that her song made their children too upset to attend school. Frivolous law suits aren’t just an American obsession, apparently.