Malaysian-born singer Namewee (黄明志) is no stranger to controversy. However, his recent statement regarding controversial Taiwanese YouTuber Soon received a lot of backlash, even from his biggest fans.
Earlier this week, the singer uploaded a video on his “The Geebai Team” YouTube channel, reacting to recent news from Asia. One of the topics he touched on was Taiwanese influencer Soon’s (孙生) sexual harassment case. According to reports, Soon was terminated from the content group Wackyboys (反骨男孩) after he was found guilty of molesting a woman. In the video, Namewee appeared to support Soon, noting that he worked with him before.
However, Namewee also insinuated that women often falsely accuse men of sexual harassment, saying, “You can’t fight this kind of thing with girls. For example, even if she happily had sex with you, she can suddenly accuse you of sexual assault five years later.” He also joked that couples should snap a photo of them smiling in bed to avoid such issues. Unsurprisingly, the singer’s words prompted backlash from netizens.
Many argued that his statement was misogynistic and undermined the severity of sexual assault on women. Some also slammed him for supporting Soon, saying he’s misinformed about the influencer’s case. In the video, Namewee also claimed there is a 99% chance that men are found guilty when it comes to sexual harassment cases. Netizens would refute this claim, arguing that women often avoid filing reports for sexual harassment due to the low success rate.
Namewee would later post on Facebook to apologise for his statement. The 41-year-old also explained himself, saying his sharing in the video was to advise men to “protect” themselves from being wrongfully accused of sexual harassment, saying that it’s easy for people to make accusations. He also denied supporting Soon, saying he believes the YouTuber is guilty and should take responsibility for his actions.
Even after his explanation, netizens continue to criticise Namewee. Taiwanese YouTuber DK (Di掃) also reacted to the situation, lamenting that Malaysian’s words will make it difficult for victims to speak out as it makes sexual crimes seem like cases where “men are just wrongfully accused”. What are your thoughts on this?
Watch the video of Namewee below (Mention of Soon’s case starts at the 6:20 mark):
Sources: YouTube, Facebook, China Press
