Disgusting.
That’s how American YouTube personality Philip DeFranco described Sondos Alqattan, the controversial Kuwaiti influencer who has ranted against laws that provide better working conditions for Filipino domestic workers.
In a video posted on YouTube on Tuesday, DeFranco said: “I believe that Sondos Alqattan is a disgusting person detached from humanity.”
He also hit Alqattan for complaining about giving workers days off. Appearing incredulous, he said: “One day a week [is what she complained about]! One day a week that a person gets to live and not serve her?”
The video has gone viral, with close to 1,200,000 views on YouTube and 57,000 upvotes. DeFranco also shared the same clip on his Facebook page yesterday, where it has been shared more than 1,600 times.
DeFranco also touched on Alqattan’s refusal in giving workers their passports, for fear that they might run away. He said: “If you talk about someone running away, if that’s not a small child, that sounds like slavery. That sounds like you own that person and your property is running away.”
Alqattan posted a statement on Instagtam stories on Tuesday to defend herself, where she also wrote: “only when you meet me up close and personal that you can make a personal judgment about me.”
DeFranco also hit this non-apology and said: “As far as your belief that you are still beautiful inside and people can’t judge unless they meet you…when you open your mouth and let those disgusting words fly out of it, you are opening a window into who you are on the inside.”
He ended his rant by saying: “I do hope that eventually, she can realize the error of her ways here. But as far as the person that we’ve seen over the past few days, that person is our douchebag of the day.”
Addressing Alqattan, he said: “Congratulations, you are horrible. That is my personal opinion.”
DeFranco is one of the more successful YouTube content creators. He has more than 6.2 million subscribers on the platform, while his Facebook account has more than 1.2 million followers. He’s known for his no-holds-barred takes on current events, from pop culture to politics.
Not surprisingly, a majority of DeFranco’s followers agreed with him.
On YouTube, a user with the name Ayla Cheshir wrote: “Kuweit (sic) is all colors of messed up. That beauty guru is definitely losing her international career.”
Meanwhile, a follower named Dante called Alqattan “delusional.” He wrote: [S]he can’t even comprehend the concept of borderline slavery, she’s horrible.”
Over on DeFranco’s Facebook page, Crystal Thompson said that many workers are definitely abused in the Middle East. She explained: “The worker pays the office to find them a job. Then the office turns around and collects between $3000-$6000 from the person needing the worker (this is why some of them feel they own the worker).”
Ariana Boire argued against Alqattan’s belief that employers should confiscate a worker’s passport. For Boire, a passport is personal property. She wrote: “It’s my passport and does not belong to anyone but myself. Period.”
Meanwhile, another content creator, Abu Dhabi-based Khalid Al Ameri, shared his thoughts on the Alqattan controversy.
In a video he posted on Saturday on his Facebook account, he said: “We are not robots at the end of the day. We are all humans and expect with a time to rest and time for ourselves.”
The video has also gone viral. It has been viewed more than 1,300,000 times and shared more than 29,000 times.
In the video, he told Alqattan: “If I worked for you, I’d run so far away the CIA won’t be able to find me…. Believe me there’s a reason why they [domestic workers] run away from you.”
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