“I’ve enjoyed my time here the past few days. The food is great and the people are loving, but everything happens for a reason” and that is what Badu had to say after the whole fiasco. Definitely a gracious one, this lady. Watch the interview here:
In the end , despite pleas from the organisers and fans , the show remained cancelled. Those hoping it had gone on clearly haven’t seen the wrath of Malaysian’s political backbenchers.
Concert organiser Pineapple Concerts Sdn Bhd managing director Razman Razali said ticket buyers could get a full refund through airasiaredtix.com.
“The show was given full approval by Puspal in December last year. No issue was raised until The Star ran an article with an image not supplied by us,” he said yesterday, lamenting the fact the concert was cancelled despite the promoter not being at fault.
Badu went on to explain her body art. The 41-year-old singer explained that the body art was inspired by a character called “The Painted Lady” from The Holy Mountain, a 1973 movie by her favourite filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. “I think the reason he (the director) did this was to show that we are all one and there is only one God and one truth and one religion,” she said.
Meanwhile, due to public outcry, The Star newspaper has suspended two of it’s editors. An umbrella organisation of Islamic-based non-governmental organisations from Penang lodged a police report against The Star over the Badu photo.
The Star today released a statement via their newspaper, saying that while they slipped up and made a mistake, it was never intentional. The editors were non-Muslims and failed to realize the body art were indeed Arabic scripture.
Erykah is due to perform in Indonesia next and has stated that she would love to return to Malaysia to perform in the near future. Rest assured this whole fiasco has propelled her and her music into the eyes of the world.
Image credits to Demotix.com and The Malaysian Insider.
