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The descent into hell of the “Arab Britney Spears” captivates Egypt

2022-11-05T10:12:28.295Z


Sherine Abdel Wahab, nicknamed the "Arab Britney Spears", is going through a complicated period. Her relatives forced her to go to rehab.


The United States has Britney Spears, the United Kingdom had Amy Winehouse... Egypt has Sherine Abdel Wahab.

Her name may mean nothing to you, and yet, at 42, she is the darling of Arab pop.

But if the singer is currently making headlines in the Egyptian press, it's because her detoxification - imposed by her family - recalls the fight of a completely different pop star: in this case, Britney Spears who fought for years against her tutelage.

This is not the first time that Sherine Abdel Wahab has appeared in the headlines.

She notably made people talk about her with her marriage and her divorce with the Egyptian singer Hossam Habib.

Same thing when she narrowly escaped prison for joking on stage about the quality of the Nile water.

But today, the situation seems much more worrying.

In mid-October, her brother Mohammed Abdel Wahab announced that he had to force her to start drug treatment, without giving details.

A fate that strangely echoes that of Britney Spears, kept under guardianship for years.

Read alsoTyrannic, profiteering and violent: Jamie, father and evil genius of Britney Spears

In video, fans of Britney Spears jubilant at the announcement of the end of her guardianship

“Kidnapped by her family”

Full screen

Sherine Abdel Wahab.

(Tunis, July 19, 2009.) STR / AFP

In January, Sherine Abdel Wahab was on stage in the United Arab Emirates.

The shaved head, like Britney Spears in 2007. "Accept me like that," she had launched to her audience, flabbergasted.

“Because of her choices and her hair (…) Sherine Abdel Wahab was kidnapped by her family”, accuses blogger Mahmoud Salem on Facebook, relaunching the keyword #FreeBritney (“free Britney”, in English) used by fans who clamored for his father's guardianship to be lifted.

Read also#FreeBritney, Britney Spears fans question her more than twenty-year-old guardianship

This alleged abduction seems to be denied by the person concerned.

His lawyer withdrew the complaint he had filed against his family in mid-October.

"The medical reports say that hospitalization was necessary," defended Yasser Qantouch on television.

Nevertheless, the story of Sherine Abdel Wahab highlights the sometimes precarious plight of women in Egypt.

According to the authorities, nearly eight million women had suffered violence in 2015 from a spouse, relative or stranger in the public space.

In addition, in 2021, the government proposed – without success – a bill aimed at allowing the fathers and brothers of the 50 million Egyptian women to annul their marriage.

Arabic song icon

From Morocco to Yemen, via Bahrain or Sudan, artists and Internet users have launched keywords and other messages of support for Sherine Abdel Wahab, whom they have followed for more than 20 years.

"With her rare talent, she took up the torch of the great voices of the Arab world", such as Oum Kalsoum, Warda or Fairouz, told AFP Tareq Mortada, spokesperson for the union of Egyptian musicians.

Full screen

Sherine Abdel Wahab.

(Tunis, July 28, 2017.) Fethi Belaid / AFP

His 2002 debut album,

Free Mix 3

in collaboration with singer Tamer Hosni, sold over 20 million copies.

Seven albums, a film, a sitcom and a judge's seat on the Arabic version of The Voice TV show later, the singer continues to fascinate.

Jokes and other memes on social networks bear witness to this.

In one image, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine dominates the news, is seen on the phone.

“Forget Ukraine, give me the latest news from Sherine Abdel Wahab instead,” he told his interlocutor.

Because everyone in Egypt wonders about the reasons that may have led to his admission to rehab, and no one publicly says what addiction the pop star would suffer from.

The War of Relatives

In the meantime, his loved ones are tearing themselves apart.

On the one hand, the Abdel Wahab family assures us that her ex-husband is violent and wants to take advantage of the singer's money and fame.

On the other, the latter denies en bloc.

Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Hossam Habib took turns at the microphone of one of Egypt's most watched talk shows.

"My sister is in complete perdition (...) My mother said to me: 'I beg you, save her from her addiction'", indicated the first.

For her part, her ex-husband defends himself.

“I have never been violent towards a woman”, assures Hossam Habib.

"Nor took a penny from Sherine."

Shortly before her hospitalization, Sherine Abdel Wahab had mentioned her supposed addiction.

“You can be addicted to medicine, to food, to bad habits, you are not necessarily addicted to drugs”, she said then.

For Tareq Mortada, of the musicians' union, "love her or hate her", the name of Sherine "is engraved in all hearts".

“Sherine Abdel Wahab is a victim of her success, too many people envy her”.

Source: lefigaro

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