Emily Ratajkowski turns down Saudi Arabia appearance, cites human rights concerns
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Emily Ratajkowski recently turned down a paid appearance in Saudi Arabia in an effort to shed light on the human rights violations occurring in the Middle East.
Ratajkowski, 28, revealed that she recently refused a “six-figure” paycheck to appear at the MDL Beast Festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — citing her support on many political causes that Saudi Arabia traditionally opposes.
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“It is very important to me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, freedom of expression and the right to a free press,” the model told fashion Instagram page, Diet Prada. “I hope coming forward on this brings more attention to the injustices happening there.”
Emily Ratajkowski said she turned down a paid appearance in Saudi Arabia. (Getty)
The festival featured a stacked guest list including Irina Shayk, Luka Sabbat, Ryan Phillippe, Sofia Richie and Winnie Harlow. Other guests included Alessandra Ambrosio, Armie Hammer and Joan Smalls.
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The Instagram page pointed out that the United Nations called out Saudi Arabia for causing “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” while delving into the amount of money offered for appearing at the festival.
“What’s worse than an all white @revolve influencer trip? Cashing big fat checks in exchange for #content creation (aka propaganda) to rehabilitate the image of Saudi Arabia, a country said to be causing ‘the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,’ according to the United Nations. According to anonymous sources, six-figure sums were offered for attendance and geo-tagged posts,” they wrote.
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“Following the government’s pre-meditated murder of journalist Jamal Kashoggi [sic] in October 2018 , the arrest of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul in May 2018, the outing of a gay Saudi journalist and his partner who began receiving death threats from their families (homosexuality is a crime in Saudi Arabia and punishable by death), and countless other human rights abuses, a bevy of supermodels, influencers, celebrities, and musicians convened in Riyadh for the inaugural @mdlbeast,” the page continued.
“According to @hypebeast , the electronic music festival is ‘one of the most significant musical events the region has ever seen,’” Diet Prada further noted.