Here’s why the crowd bashing HUM Awards isn’t really justified

Misinformation online could be one of the biggest setbacks of this new age of social media. People never seem to review anything they post, nor do those on the receiving end care. From a showbiz perspective, even in the entertainment industry, misinformation is a big problem.

Celebrity scandals always come with a wave of misinformation, which in many cases is already inclined to believe the worst. A new scandal currently doing the rounds is May 8th^th The HUM Awards are taking place in Toronto this weekend. Let’s discuss what happened and why much of it doesn’t make sense.

Why the backlash

As we all know, Pakistan is currently suffering from one of the worst floods in its history. With thousands who have lost their lives and millions who have lost their homes and been exiled to relief camps, this is a devastating time for the country.

In the midst of this, we also saw many stories from the entertainment industry, such as movie star Meera performing a dance performance in New York to raise funds for those affected by the floods. Another of these stories focuses on the HUM Awards.

HUM TV is no stranger when it comes to one of their events. Back in 2018, they received a similar backlash for their 6th season^th HUM Awards this year, which coincided with Pakistan’s general elections. The crowds quickly slammed her and all the celebrities attending the event, rather than staying in the country to cast their ballot.

This time it’s the 8th^th HUM Awards under fire, due out on March 24^th September 2022. PPP politician Sharmila Faruqui took to Instagram and slammed the celebrities for not being there for those in need in the country, while citing international film star and philanthropist Angelina Jolie as an example.

This led to audiences demanding a boycott of the event and HUM TV as a whole, calling them insensitive and unmusical for hosting such an extravagant event while millions across the country are suffering.

Is it justified?

While the anger is understandable, amidst all the noise surrounding this drama, it’s important that we get the facts straight. High-profile events like the HUM Awards are planned months in advance, from the venue to the performances and guests, everything is meticulously planned weeks in advance of the event.

A similar argument was made in defense of HUM TV back in 2018. Venue bookings of this caliber for high profile events cannot simply be rescheduled or canceled in a matter of days. Celebrities who will perform have fixed performance contracts that cannot be revoked. The date for the general election was announced after everything was already in motion regarding the HUM awards.

It’s the same this time, because the tragedy happened only recently, while the event was planned months in advance. Also, let’s not forget that HUM TV did a good job of tackling this issue from its own side even before this backlash grew.

The show was advertised from the start saying that HUM will donate a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to flood victims. HUM has done its part to help those in need and has also hosted a live donation telethon through their foundation.Humard’, which took place in Karachi in early September. Another such fundraiser took place prior to the awards in Canada, which was attended by numerous celebrities.

Celebrities come to the defense

All of this drama and backlash resulted in several celebrities coming out in their own and HUM’s defense. We’ve seen the likes of Ahmed Ali Butt taking to Instagram Stories, sarcastically poking fun at those praising Angelina Jolie, and challenging the double standards or lack of fact-checking skills of our folks by pointing out how part of the Ticket sales will go to aid funds and so on. The event is not just a lavish party.

Mahira Khan, Ushna Shah and Haroon Shahid also got involved and Haroon took to Twitter to let people know that they are already doing their part and will continue to help raise awareness and do whatever it takes to help to help the needy.

However, we also saw Azfar Rehman announce via Instagram post that he has decided not to attend the event as he has voluntarily withdrawn.

Ushna Shah, who is also attending the fundraiser in Canada, was seen posting about the event showing millions were raised for the aid funds.

Conclusion

Despite HUM’s best efforts, the backlash is far from abating. It is quite unfortunate that in most such cases of online backlash, audiences have been shown to assume the worst without any fact-checking on their part.

That’s exactly what we’re seeing here, with #BoycottHumTV still blasting them under every post and #BoycottHumAwards trending on Twitter. The internet is a cesspool of misinformation and vicious circles of hate and unfortunately this is just the next.

The efforts of celebrities and HUM TV to raise all of these funds should be commended rather than condemned. At the end of the day, we pray that these funds reach those in need and we hope this cycle of unwarranted hate ends soon.