Rabat – Moroccan artist and comedian Abdelali Lamhar, also known as Taliss, has apologized to Moroccans, particularly women, saying that his joke was “spontaneous” and that he had “no intention of insulting Moroccan women.”
The comedian sparked outrage last week after cracking a derogatory joke at a ceremony hosted to honor the Moroccan national team’s historic achievements in the 2022 World Cup, which took place in Casablanca.
“ What I liked the most about the national team during the World Cup is that whenever they win I get to hug the girl next to me…If they [the Atlas Lions] qualified to the finals I would have made the girl next to me pregnant,” the comedian said during the ceremony.
Taliss made the joke in the presence of Morocco’s Minister of Culture Mehdi Bensaid, Atlas Lions head coach Walid Regragui, FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaa, football players, and several media outlets, which caused uproar among moroccan people deeming his joke as “inappropriate.”
Many took to social media to express their discontent with Tallis’ behavior, saying that it demonstrated a complete lack of manners, education, and respect.
منتهى قلة الأدب، وقلة التربية وقلة الإحترام في تخربيق تم إلقاؤه من طرف من في الصورة المدعو #طاليس في إطار الإحتفال بفوزي لقجع والركراكي، هنا فين خاص تبان الجمعيات النسوية#الجامعة_الملكية_المغربية_لكرة_القدم #FRMF pic.twitter.com/6eFZTwslt6
— aouin adil (@adilaouin) January 28, 2023
Other Twitter users noted that Moroccan women were honored during the World Cup, recalling the royal reception held for footballers and their mothers. But the comedian’s behavior ruined everything, they stressed.
Taliss presented his apologies in a recent interview with Al Jazeera. When asked if he wrote his jokes down before the performance, the comedian responded that he just got “excited” on stage and didn’t expect it would cause a “stir or be taken the wrong way.”
Arguing that his joke was “spontaneous,” the comedian went on to apologize for “any slip of the tongue” and for any insults he may have caused. He insisted that he “never intended to hurt or attack Moroccan women, who play an important role in our society.”
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