Local celebrities Aliff Aziz and Ruhainies have found themselves in hot waters after being caught for allegedly committing khalwat (close proximity). While the two have issued statements to clear their name, netizens haven’t forgiven them and are urging brands and production companies to cease partnerships with the stars.
One of the brands is fashion label Rizman Ruzaini, which recently launched its Raya collection featuring actor Aliff Aziz and actress Bella Astillah as their ambassadors – but netizens now want the brand to drop Aliff from their campaign. While the brand regrets what happened recently, co-designer Rizman Nordin said the brand won’t let the Aliff’s controversy affect their work, especially since he’s not their main muse.
The 39-year-old said the brand is not involved in the actor’s private matters, adding that any partnership between the brand and the artists is strictly business. Despite receiving comments and messages from netizens saying they would boycott Rizman Ruzaini, the designer stated that the brand wouldn’t entertain the comments. Instead, the label would focus on its partnership with ambassador Bella Astillah, who has more commitments to the brand than Aliff.
Rizman Ruzaini isn’t the only local label receiving boycott threats because netizens have also called to boycott Fiziwoo’s latest Raya collection featuring actress Ruhainies as their muse. Despite their disclaimer that the campaign was already in production since December 2023, the brand still couldn’t avoid negative comments from netizens.
On the other hand, beauty brand Kitsui received praise for censoring Ruhainies from their recent Raya promo video. Netizens also thanked producer Dato A.Aida for offering Bella Astillah roles in her upcoming projects after dropping Ruhainies. However, many netizens also said brands shouldn’t get chastised for their ambassadors’ actions.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Should the brands be called out for working with Aliff and Ruhainies? Or are they also the victims in this case?
Sources: mStar, TikTok, Instagram
