The celebrities who saved no effort to disparage Egypt's revolt and denounce the demonstrators as terrorists need to find another way to soften their image than simply lying about their attitude near the demise of Hosni Mubarak's tenure. In a blatant manner, many public figures turned out to be two-faced as they backed the ex-president during his latest days in power and suddenly became pro-revolution either after the regime was brought down or at some point where it seemed to be close to an end. One of those deceitful, yet brainless, luminaries was once-prominent actor Adel Emam who couldn't smartly backtrack on controversial comments he made to defend the toppled commander-in-chief and his family members a while back. A short video of the 70-year-old coming down hard on Mubarak's critics in an interview with renowned TV presenter Amr Al-Laithy was widely circulated on the internet, which drew a lot of criticism against the big-screen hotshot. Emam remained tight-lipped over what he said until the rule appeared to be collapsing; thence he tried to ride on the wave of patriotism by showing his 'full support' for the protestors and lashing out at the ‘corrupt' government.
Ibrahim Hassan urged Egyptian authorities to enclose the protestors in Tahrir Square to prevent them from getting any water, food or medical supplies but somehow got the nerve to state that he was not against the revolution! When asked about his previous political views, he just played dumb and denied ever being a proponent of the system, saying the video was a mere hoax! And of course his pathetic attempt to salvage what's left of his reputation only turned up the heat on him. In the football scene there were even much worse examples of absurdity, like that of Zamalek's loose cannon Ibrahim Hassan who once urged Egyptian authorities to enclose the protestors in Tahrir Square to prevent them from getting any water, food or medical supplies. Despite his outrageous stance, Hassan somehow got the nerve to state that he was not against the revolution! Needless to say, he revealed his new perspective only after Mubarak stepped down and numerous fans called for his resignation as Zamalek's football director. Many other big names such as Egypt coach Hassan Shehata, former defender Hani Ramzi and Ismaili center-back Shadi Mohamed decried the purposes of the revolt. Now most of them are probably contemplating a way to justify themselves. Whether these individuals were driven by hypocrisy, ignorance, fear, the desire to be in the public eye or even faith in Mubarak, they need to understand that they cannot release contradictory statements within a very short period of time and expect anyone to believe them.
Whether these individuals were driven by hypocrisy, ignorance, fear, the desire to be in the public eye or even faith in Mubarak, they need to understand that they cannot release contradictory statements within a very short period of time and expect anyone to believe them. As a matter of fact there is nothing they can say or do these days to regain the respect of the anti-Mubarak people, who definitely represent the vast majority of the Egyptian population. Any of these 'stars' could well remain persona non grata for the rest of his/her life. All masks slipped during the uprising, so instead of faking new characters or saying utter nonsense the blacklisted celebrities should either be honest or just stay silent and avoid speaking to the media for a very, very long time. They can afford to admit making a mistake, cite immense pressure from high-profile officials as a reason for attacking the demonstrators or to explain why they are ardent disciples of Mubarak; it's a free country after all. But they certainly cannot afford to endeavor to reclaim popularity by contradicting themselves. People might have suffered from periods of turmoil, but never from periods of amnesia!
