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#CancelNasDaily Trending After He Was Called Out for Exploitation

2021-08-06 , 2:25 pm

If you’re here, you either know Nas Daily as that guy with entertaining travel videos, or that weird dude who blamed COVID-19 on meat eaters.

For those who have no idea who he is, Nas Daily, actually named Nuseir Yassin, is a popular vlogger who became famous for his one-minute travel videos.

He now does videos on various topics and issues, and they’re much longer than a minute.

The 29-year-old has millions of followers, and is popular around the world.

So when allegations emerged that Nas exploited a woman and mocked the accent of another, fans were shocked, to say the least.

Now, the vlogger is trending on social media, and many netizens calling for him to be cancelled.

So, what the heck happened?

Accused of Exploiting Old Tattoo Artist in Philippines

Trouble started when Nas was accused of exploiting a traditional tattoo artist from the Philippines.

Nas Academy – an online learning platform created by Nas – had uploaded a traditional tattooing course by Whang-od, a famous Kalinga tattoo artist.

The description for the video lesson said it would “reveal all the rituals, tools, and methods for making traditional tattoos.”

It wasn’t free, of course; users had to pay P750 (around S$20) to view it.

Things weren’t as they seemed, however, as Whang-od’s grandniece, Grace Palicas, called the whole thing a “scam”, saying her grandmother was exploited.

“My grandmother did not sign any contract with [Nas Daily] to do any academy. Some people are taking advantage of our culture. PLEASE HELP US STOP this disrespect to the legacy of Apo Whang-od and the Butbot Tribe,” she said in a Facebook post.

In response, Nas Academy showed a video of Whang-od affixing her thumbprint on what appears to be a contract, but Grace said that her grandmother didn’t understand the translators.

Image: Facebook (Louise De Guzman Mabulo)

Cacao Project Founder Accuses Nas of Mocking Her Accent, Chasing Content

Not long after Grace accused Nas of exploitation, Cacao Project founder Louise De Guzman Mabulo took to Facebook to air her own grievances over her interactions with the vlogger.

“I’ve held my silence for 2 years, however in light of recent news, it’s high time I break it,” she wrote.

Louise said she used to be a huge fan of Nas, and would watch his videos with her dad every day.

In 2019, Nas Daily visited her home town to cover the Cacao Project, which is a social venture aimed at equipping farmers for sustainable success.

However, she said she soon learnt that he was not who she thought he was.

“I watched him imitate and mock the local accent and language, vocalising Tagalog-sounding syllabic phrases saying it sounded stupid. He repeatedly said that the people of my hometown “poor” “farmers are so poor!” “why are Filipinos so poor?” she wrote.

According to Louise, Nas said that no one wants to hear about farmers or farms, as it’s not clickable or viewable content.

“He didn’t care about making change or shedding light on real issues— he only wanted content, a good, easy story to tell that would get him more Filipino views,” she wrote.

“He even joked at the start of the day that all he needed was to put “Philippines” in the title, and he’d rack in millions of views would and the comments would come flooding with brainless ‘Pinoy pride’ comments.”

While working, Nas allegedly refused to let anyone take a break or eat anything. He was seemingly disappointed that the Cacao Project wasn’t the “perfectly packaged story” he had imagined, and blamed Louise for it.

Louise told Nas that the joint venture may not work after all, and the two eventually decided that it’d be best for Nas to leave.

Louise added that Nas didn’t thank her family when they received him into his home. Her mum also spent the whole morning preparing food for him, but he refused to eat it.

“I should have known better, that this man was exploitative and fueling a neocolonialist narrative using our need for foreign validation,” Louise wrote.

She said that she had stayed silent for two years for fear of a backlash.

“…after all, it’s easy to take Nusseir’s word over mine,” she said.

Louise also brought up the controversy involving Whang-Od, noting that Nas Daily’s response was very telling.

“The fact that he refused to take down the course until Gracia took her post down is a clear sign of systematic silencing, and the hope that they want to continue their money-making from our culture.”

She praised Grace for her courage, and said she wasn’t alone in her experience.

Nas Daily’s Response

Just two hours later, Nas issued a response on the Nas Daily Tagalog Facebook page.

“I have also kept my silence for 2 years out of respect to you,” he wrote. “But I can’t let you share falsehoods on the Internet for free.”

Nas said that he flew into the Philippines from Singapore because he was inspired by Louise and what she was doing.

Excited by how Louise’s project revolutionised the cacao industry in her province, they spent “2 days flying” only to discover that it was not what they thought.

“To my biggest sadness and surprise, your story was not true on the ground. Once we arrived at your plantation, once we saw the village and talked to the farmers, we came to the conclusion that there is no story here. That the awards on the Internet are just that…awards,” he wrote.

Nas went even further and claimed that the farmers Louise works with for her project didn’t really exist, and that there are “no Cacao plantations that you don’t personally profit from.”

Not wanting to put “Fake News” on social media, Nas said he and his team packed up their things and left.

“I was so sad because we have invested tens of hours to support you,” he wrote.

“When we told you in person that we believe your story is not true, you understood us and you bid us farewell.”

“We thanked you for your time and your hospitality and we went back to the airport. In fact, we took nice pictures with your family before we left,” he added.

Nas “advised” Louise to be “truthful” about her project, and not to share falsehoods online, as it’s “borderline illegal”.

Response to the Response

No Internet spat is complete without a response to the response, of course.

Two hours after Nas’ post, Louise shared another post on Facebook, saying “our farmers and well and real”.

“Attacking me this way does not validate your behavior, the words you’ve said nor the injustice you’ve built your entire career on,” she said.

“I will not take advice nor criticism, especially when you clearly don’t understand Filipino farming and culture, or refuse to,” she added.

She added that the real issue at hand here is the allegation of exploitation involving Whang-Od and her grandniece, whom she wholeheartedly supports.

#CancelNasDaily is now trending on social media, though some of Nas’ fans have defended him.

Whether he’ll be cancelled or not, remains to be seen.

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