Malaysian comedian sued for insulting, body shaming Najib’s wife

Rosmah Mansor has slapped Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander with a defamation lawsuit over a stand-up comedy routine that allegedly mocked and insulted her.

Rosmah, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, filed the writ of summons at the High Court on June 9.

According to her statement of claim, the alleged defamation occurred during Harith’s performance, titled “Harith Iskander: The Outspoken Comedy Tour”, at the Swiss-Garden Hotel in Melaka on January 17.

Rosmah claimed that during the routine, Harith intentionally defamed her through a visual presentation shown to the audience.

“During the performance, the defendant displayed images of scary mythological creatures from Malaysian folklore, including but not limited to the toyol, pontianak, and pocong, before subsequently displaying the plaintiff’s image to the audience as part of the joke’s narrative,” the statement of claim said.

The plaintiff further alleged that Harith joked about drivers looking in their rear-view mirror on a dark road and seeing a terrifying figure, at which point her image was displayed on screen. Rosmah contended that this was a deliberate attempt to portray her as a frightening figure, damage her reputation, and subject her to public ridicule and body shaming.

Rosmah is seeking an unconditional apology from Harith, along with unspecified general, aggravated and exemplary damages.