Celebrities, others come forward in Ali Zafar's support after sexual harassment allegations

 

Celebrities and other industry professionals came forward in support of Ali Zafar after the singer was accused of sexually harassing his colleague Meesha Shafi. 

Fahad Rehman, who has claimed to be acquainted with the two celebrities before they became public figures, accused Meesha of blackmailing him during their professional acquaintanceship.

"Now I don’t know what happened between Ali and her, but what I do know is that she has the capability to blackmail and malign one’s reputation. Without hard evidence, I would take everything she says with a ton of salt," he said.

"I have known both Meesha and Ali for a very long time. Before both were even famous. I have seen their stardom grow over the course of almost two decades," wrote Rehman.

"I have had the misfortune of working with Meesha. Other than her terrible temper and tantrums, on one occasion, I was blackmailed by her 5 minutes before a show to give up my share of the commission my agency was making, otherwise, she will not perform. After returning from the trip back to Pakistan and firing her as a client, I was made aware that Meesha was telling her friends and colleagues that I stole her performance tee. A few other incidents occurred that I don’t wish to get into but you get the gist. This was in 2008-9."

PR professional Fareshteh Aslam took to twitter to express her doubts on Meesha's allegation.

"It's been a difficult 24 hours. @AliZafarsays has been a preferred working choice for over a decade; he's intense about work, principled & delivered over & above expectation. Never expected to hear this about him. Ali & force? There's more to this #metoo," Aslam wrote on twitter.  

Film star Resham, in an exclusive conversation with Geo News, said she didn't believe there was any truth to the harassment accusations leveled against Ali. 

"I don't think there is any truth to the harassment allegations against Ali," said the actress. "He is a very focused person and does his work with a lot of intensity. He has never been at the center of such news."

"I have known Ali personally for many years. He is a colleague and we have worked on a few projects together. He is a huge name in Pakistan and I have never heard any such allegations against him in the entire span of his career."

 

The actress insisted that Ali is a very cultured and educated person and his career has remained clean of scandals. 

"He married the girl he loved...he is happily married and has kids," said Resham. 

"If there is a misunderstanding between them [Meesha and Ali] they should sit and resolve it. Meesha should not defame Ali Zafar, she herself is a known public figure."

Responding to a question about leveling harassment allegations, the actress said that the accusor should always couple the accusations with proof. 

"Bring proof with you and not level allegations just like that," she said.

"Ali Zafar is on that stage of his career. He performs all over the world and most of his fans are beautiful girls. When he is performing, the girls are dancing around him and want to get his autograph. And you can gauge a person by their personality, he has always been very sober."