Fauzi Nawawi, the Malaysian actor under fire after speaking enthusiastically about a rape scene on live television, has removed his apology from Instagram but continues to throw shade at critics.
The video of him apologizing for naming the actress in the unaired scene was no longer available on his account today, a day after thousands slammed him for disrespecting the actress from the Anak Halal film 14 years ago, while revealing graphic details of the moment he acted out the scene. The 48-year-old posted a cryptic message today, addressing his critics, who include fellow actors Bront Palarae.
“God won’t forgive the critics until the person [who was criticized] has forgiven them. Be careful,” the caption of the post said, quoting what sounded like an Islamic preacher’s voice that was played in its accompanying 30-second clip.
Fauzi put up another self-reflection post today, saying: “Those who are patient have no regrets. Their pain will be replaced with happiness they’ve never dreamed of.”
The film by director Osman Ali had featured Fauzi as the villain. The rape scene with actress Raja Farah Aziz never made it to the final cut upon request from her family, said Fauzi on the Rumah No. 107 talk show, where he went on to describe the actress wearing tight shorts with her legs spread out and recounted trying his best “to control my tiredness and lust.”
The show, hosted by Khir Rahman and former radio DJ Shuk Sahar, aired in June but a clip of it went viral Tuesday. Many believed that he should not have named the actress out of respect.
“The allowance of rape scenes has crossed its line to glamourizing and normalizing sexual violence against women,” actress Lisa Surihani, 35, wrote on her Instagram stories. “Talking about rape in such a manner, speaks volumes about the LACK of realization of how WRONG this is.”
“Disgusting, disrespectful, disappointing,” Sepet star Sharifah Amani wrote on Twitter. “This is what happens when there is no respect for one’s career, colleagues, and among human beings. I don’t understand how this was allowed, from filming to airing of the show. Did no one see how horrible it was? How was this allowed on mainstream [TV]?”
Before removing the post, Fauzi had apologized for naming the actress while also defending himself for getting into too much detail about the rape scene, saying: “… Whenever we talk among men, we cannot really control ourselves.”
Fauzi was talking about the movie while responding to Shuk’s question about whether he preferred robbery to rape scenes when playing the villain, to which he replied: “When people say I look like a rapist, I feel more excited to act out the scene.”
Other guests on the show were actors Zul Huzaimy and Fairuz Zainal Abidin.
Anak Halal actor Bront, who had a minor role in the movie, also weighed in: “Nothing can mask the feelings of regret. We need to be better than this #NoMoreRapeJokes.”
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