The engagement ceremony of popular Indonesian YouTuber Atta Halilintar and singer Aurel Hermansyah was broadcasted live on television station RCTI over the weekend, which has prompted heavy criticism from the public.
Among those making their grievances known over the airing of Atta and Aurel’s engagement was the National Coalition for Broadcasting Reform (KNRP), who wrote a letter of protest to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) for allowing the private affair to be broadcast on television. Among the points conveyed in the letter, KNRP wrote that such events “clearly do not represent public interest by arbitrarily using publicly owned frequencies” and regrets KPI’s “neglectful” attitude towards what could be considered a violation of its own rule that TV stations should only broadcast content that is beneficial to the public.
Twenty-six-year-old Atta, who’s known for his clickbait-y vlogs and prank videos, has addressed the uproar but his 22-year-old fiancé has yet to issue a statement.
“In our lives, we can’t always make many people happy. We just want to get married, no need to listen to others. Our lives and future are in our hands,” Atta said.
Following the controversy, KPI’s deputy head Mulyo Hadi Purnomo said that representatives from RCTI will be summoned for questioning over the airing of Aurel and Atta’s engagement. MNC Group, the media group to which RCTI belongs, also published a statement today defending their broadcast of the event, which they said didn’t violate any TV standards.
Syafril Nasution, MNC Group’s spokesperson, said in the statement that the station merely wanted to satisfy the public’s demand in witnessing the engagement on TV.
“We know that the engagement process is also a part of culture. RCTI wanted to showcase the variety of Indonesian wedding customs,” Syafril said.
“The public definitely want to know about their activities, especially for positive activities such as engagement and wedding ceremonies that are sacred for Indonesians.”
Aurel and Atta’s wedding is set to take place on April 3, and RCTI is set to air the ceremony as well.
The couple, who met when they collaborated for a YouTube video, has been in a relationship for more than a year. Atta’s first foray into the Indonesian entertainment industry was with his parents and 10 younger siblings as a novelty family act named Gen Halilintar, while Aurel has been in the public eye for almost her entire life as she is the first daughter of singer-turned-entrepreneur Anang Hermansyah and Indonesian diva Krisdayanti, who divorced in 2009.
Aurel and her family — including Anang, her stepmother Ashanty, younger brother Azriel, and half-sister Arsy — tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-February, but the family has since recovered.
