{"id":55040,"date":"2024-02-01T13:41:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T13:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/ali-noor-talks-harassment-allegations-a-year-later-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-02-01T13:41:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T13:41:44","slug":"ali-noor-talks-harassment-allegations-a-year-later-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/ali-noor-talks-harassment-allegations-a-year-later-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Ali Noor talks harassment allegations a year later | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nKARACHI:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a recent podcast interview<\/a> hosted by Ahmed Ali Butt, singer Ali Noor opened up about the tumultuous period he faced last year after being accused of sexual harassment and professional misconduct. The allegations rocked the music industry and led to significant repercussions for Noor of the popular 90s rock band, Noori.<\/p>\n

The singer began by reflecting on the timing of the allegations, noting that they surfaced during a deeply personal and emotionally challenging period for him, following the death of his grandmother. He expressed his belief that the accusations were aimed at making an already difficult time even harder for him. However, he once again vehemently denied any predatory behaviour, asserting, “Of course, I didn\u2019t have an ounce of a predatory thing in me, I don\u2019t flirt the way people flirt.”<\/p>\n

Throughout the interview, Noor maintained his innocence, emphasizing that he did not know the accusers personally. He recounted the circumstances surrounding the allegations, including his attempts to intervene in a distressing situation involving one of the accusers, which according to him, ultimately led to him being implicated in the controversy. Noor described feeling blindsided by the accusations and the subsequent fallout, including a decline in work opportunities and damaged professional relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the women around me call me eccentric and crazy but jitna mera<\/em> comfort level hai <\/em>with kuriyan <\/em>(girls) without becoming their bhai <\/em>(brother) or trying to get them to fall in love with me, I think other guys are even jealous of that because I\u2019ve had a very comfortable relationship with women all my life,\u201d he held. \u201cEven my wife, Mandana, would understand that, that\u2019s why I could just do what I do all the time, because there was always purity in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the women who came out with their alleged encounters with Noor, the singer said, \u201cYou can check who are these people. These women; nobody knows them from Adam, I don\u2019t know them from Adam. The first one, she had several cuts on her hand, she was Kami\u2019s [Paul] friend. I got to know she\u2019s about to kill herself and that she also approached Rohail [Hyatt]. When it was my turn, I figured I\u2019ll go into my saviour mode and respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer recollected responding from his wife\u2019s phone. \u201cI responded from Mandana\u2019s phone. Kami had told me that she is about to jump from the car and kill herself and I have to say something. And then I realized that there\u2019s no point. I kept listening to people, somebody said I should write this, someone else said I should say this, I was in a different kind of pain then. And later I discovered that this is a big deal. People stopped giving me work and\u2026 other things happened. But sexual harassment kisi or chirya ka naam hai<\/em> (it is something else altogether).\u201d<\/p>\n

Noor\u2019s frustration was evident as he spoke about the impact the allegations had on his career and reputation. He shared instances where potential business deals were affected by the tarnishing of his name. Noor also addressed the personal toll of the ordeal, acknowledging the hurt caused by the public scrutiny and condemnation. He expressed disappointment at the way he was perceived and treated in the aftermath of the accusations, lamenting the loss of support from individuals he had considered friends and colleagues.<\/p>\n

When Butt said, \u201cI think you\u2019ve cleared your name in that regard,\u201d Noor asserted rather harshly, \u201cWho gives a f*** about \u2018clearing name\u2019? Who gives a s***? I just f****** left the building. I\u2019m gonna walk here, I\u2019m gonna walk out of here.\u201d The host and rapper, however, argued, \u201cBut don\u2019t you think, Noor, that the right way to go about it would be to clear your name? Because your name now belongs to your wife and your children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d held Noor. \u201cThey didn\u2019t get affected by it at all. What hurt me is not the sexual harassment allegation. What hurt me is what people say. It was like I was playing a gig and they were like, \u2018Oh! We forgot you\u2019re a sexual harasser.\u2019 Okay. Sony came to sign a deal with me and the guy spent a lot of time and said that someone in Dubai told them that I\u2019m a sexual harasser. I was like, okay. When everyone labelled me a sexual harasser, I read Meesha\u2019s [Shafi] message, saying, \u2018so ugly he does this\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butt chimed in, \u201cAnd you know Meesha [Shafi] for a long time.\u201d Noor furthered, \u201cYes, yes, I read more messages. There was one person who stood up for me, it was Anoushey [Ashraf]. But everyone else got scarred. Prior to this, I had gone to Hunza with some 13 girls, me being the only guy. These girls, they said to them, \u2018how can you go with him?\u2019 And even those girls were like, \u2018What are you talking about? This man? He will sexually harass us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Noor maintained a stoic perspective on the situation, emphasising the need to prioritize personal integrity over \u201csocietal perceptions of success or failure,\u201d suggesting that the experience has taught him valuable lessons. He went on to call the matter \u201ctafarqati<\/em>\u201d adding that right and wrong is relative.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have narcissistic tendencies and whole bunch of other tendencies and I\u2019m not the only one with that,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut what I\u2019m trying to say is, by saying that every genius has to go through this, you are putting that person, who you\u2019re calling a genius, on a pedestal. This is a tafarqati <\/em>matter, where we grade something. The fact of the matter is, that I was also like that; always wanting to be the best lawyer, the best musician. But \u2018best\u2019 is very relative and this story is very complicated and time had to prove that,\u201d he maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have come to realise that the world has changed a lot and it is revealing some new truths. And one of those truths is that this tafarqati <\/em>matter; best, worst, cancelled, uncancelled, rich, poor, good body, bad body, appropriate words, right, wrong \u2013 everything is breaking down. So, I can\u2019t change things but I have accepted them. These sexual harassment dramas, I am grateful I did not react or respond or try to save myself because I had to leave the building. And today, I have nothing to do with any commercial entity, any television channel, any record label,\u201d concluded the singer.<\/p>\n

It is pertinent to mention that Noor has not named anyone in his latest interview but the only allegations made public against him include a sexual harassment allegation by journalist Ayesha Binte Rashid and professional misconduct claims by singer Maha Ali Kazmi. Speaking to The Express Tribune<\/em> after Noor\u2019s latest podcast surfaced online, Rashid maintained that she has \u201cnothing to say about or to the person in question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I’d rather not assume that he was speaking about me,\u201d she holds. \u201cHowever, a lot of people messaged and commented after the interview was released, saying very unkind things about my mental health,\u201d revealed Rashid. \u201cTo them, I say: Yes, I do have self-harm scars on my arms. And I am not ashamed of that. To me, they signify all the battles I’ve won and survived. I have also had suicidal thoughts in the past. I have always been open about my struggles with mental illness and will continue to be. I am in a much better place now and I want to state on the record that my suicide ideation did not coincide with or have any relation to the predatory behavior that I have been subjected to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMental health is not a joke,\u201d Rashid declared. \u201cMY mental health is not a joke. In fact, no one’s mental health is a joke, ever. It’s not something to be weaponised against a person. Please think twice before making those mean comments and sending cruel messages, you never know what a person has been through. And if you are currently struggling with mental illness, please know that you have nothing to be ashamed of.\u201d<\/p>\n

History of allegations<\/strong><\/p>\n

In February last year, Noor was publicly accused by the journalist, who shared screenshots of an alleged conversation she had with the singer in which she called him out for “predatory behaviour” and “sexual harassment”. The screenshots saw Noor reach out to Rashid from his wife\u2019s WhatsApp after apparently being blocked by her on the app. In his messages, he thanked her for the \u201cwake up call\u201d, urging her to \u201cforgive herself, first\u201d and then \u201cothers around\u201d her.<\/p>\n

When reached out for an explanation, Noor refused to give a statement but shared the “complete” version of his conversation with Rashid<\/a> and allowed for it to be made public. Noor claimed that he had sent a few messages in response to Rashid’s initial message but she \u201cdid not mention them\u201d in her post. In these messages, shared exclusively with The Express Tribune<\/em>, Noor admitted to being her “gunehgar<\/em>” and told her he hates himself. Rashid had refused to make any further comments on the story, but gave The Express Tribune<\/em> the consent to publish her posts, which are available on her public Instagram.<\/p>\n

Singer Maha Ali Kazmi, on the other hand, opened up about her experience with professional misconduct and workplace harassment in the Pakistani music industry in April last year. While doing so, she accused the Noori frontman of \u201charassment and professional misconduct<\/a>\u201d, allegedly during a Coke Studio<\/em> audition. She also called him out for \u201csabotage\u201d.<\/p>\n

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARACHI: In a recent podcast interview hosted by Ahmed Ali Butt, singer Ali Noor opened up about the tumultuous period he faced last year after being accused of sexual harassment and professional misconduct. The allegations rocked the music industry and led to significant repercussions for Noor of the popular 90s rock band, Noori. The singer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/Ali-Noor1706785204-0\/Ali-Noor1706785204-0.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}