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Rabat – After calling Moroccans criticizing the “Malhama: Abtal Al Watan” music video as enemies of the nation, Moroccan actor Said Naciri has repeated his now-infamous comments in an interview. This time, however, Naciri labeled critics of his music video “Polisario.”
In a phone interview with Moroccan radio station Chada FM, Said Naciri accuses the Polisario Front of being behind the backlash against his music video.
“The offenses and insults against the Malhama are from the Polisario. There are fake accounts run by enemies of the kingdom,” said Naciri.
He backed his arguments, saying, “It is impossible for a Moroccan to criticize a product that concerns citizenship and patriotism.”
According to Naciri, the low quality of the video is explained by the lack of funding.
“The production of a spectacular video requires a 4 to 5 full days of availability from the artists, as well as a large budget.”
Since its release on Friday, May 25, the 13-minute music video received wide backlash on social media, with critics characterizing the music, lyrics, and video as lacking creativity.
In his first statements in response to the negative comments on the music video, Naciri labeled people criticizing the song as “enemies of success and enemies of the Moroccan state.”
“These people we call reptiles… it should have been enough for them to hear the word ‘king’ [in the song] it should have been enough that they heard the word nation, and saw a large number of artists. Still, they went and called it garbage. Shame,” he said.
Malhama aims to show support for Morocco’s 2020 World Cup bid and the Atlas Lions, who will travel to Russia next month to participate in the 2018 World Cup.
Participants in the music video include model Leila Haddioui, actor Mohamed El Jem, actress and former Minister of Culture Touria Jabrane.
Earlier this week, Naciri told media that his song was “highly” admired during a press conference held to introduce the song in the presence of 150 people.
“At first, everyone expressed admiration for the song, but once it was released online, it was attacked.”
