M'sian Actor Slammed For Joking About A Rape Scene & Admitting That He Enjoyed Filming It
The conversation began when one of the hosts asked the actor whether he liked playing a robber or a rapist.
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Warning: This story contains quotes depicting sexual assault that may be distressing to some readers.
A Malaysian actor has been chastised for making distasteful remarks while he described a rape scene filmed more than a decade ago during a talk show
48-year-old actor Fauzi Nawawi was on a talk show aired on a satellite TV channel a few months ago but a recent TikTok and tweet have brought netizens' attention to the matter.
The two-minute video clip shows hosts Shuk Sahar and Khir Rahman chatting with actors Fizz Fairuz, Zul Huzaimy, and Fauzi in a home-style studio.
The video begins with Shuk Sahar asking Fauzi what kind of villainous characters he likes to play the most.
"Among all the bad things (your characters do), which is your favourite? Robbery or rape?" asks Shuk Sahar, a former radio DJ.
In response, Fauzi said both robbery and rape are among the scenes he loves filming, to which host Khir Rahman repeatedly confirms with Fauzi whether he said "merogol" (rape) in his answer.
The group then close in to listen to Fauzi recounting his experience filming a rape scene with his co-star Raja Farah Aziz — whom he explicitly names
Relating the account more than 14 years ago, the actor said the rape scene was filmed for Anak Halal, a violence-laden crime movie that premiered in 2007.
In the all-men group interview — which many netizens likened to toxic locker room talk — Fauzi boasts about how he enjoyed filming the rape scene.
"In the scene, I raped Raja Farah," the actor said, adding that he was "acting". He goes on to describe the scene in detail while demonstrating how it played out.
"But, the director told me to open (my pants) to show my back. At that time, she was wearing a pair of tight shorts and her legs were folded up to her chest."
"You know that position, right? You do it all the time," he says to one of the hosts. Khir Rahman then prompts Fauzi to act out the sexual position before laughing out loud.
"Bang, if you can, please describe it in detail because I want to picture it in my head," Shuk pleads with Fauzi, to which the latter complies.
"The crew was all watching us, they were all sweating. As the person who was actually doing it, I was sweating too," Fauzi recounts.
"I was trying my best to control two things: my tiredness and lust. I had to control my expression too because I could not be too 'original'."
While Fauzi is narrating, both hosts constantly interject with great enthusiasm.
Fauzi then concludes the story by saying the scene was deleted from the movie in accordance with the wishes of Raja Farah's parents after they had previewed the footage.
At the time of writing, a tweet carrying the interview segment went viral with over 16,900 retweets and had over 3.7 million views
Fauzi's remarks prompted All Women's Action Society (AWAM) to condemn the men on the talk show for treating rape as a joke.
"Five prominent people in the local media industry, talking about performing rape like it's a kink. Rape is NOT a joke! And 'pleasant' should be the last thing in mind when talking about it," AWAM tweeted in response to the video on Tuesday, 19 October.
Thousands of netizens also called out Fauzi and the other men on the talk show for normalising rape.
"Fauzi Nawawi literally admitted that he's turned on, not 'acting' for rape scenes on national TV. That's a predatory sign. Raja Farah was 17/18/19 (years old) when it happened. He has a daughter. Why would he normalise rape joke? Unacceptable behaviour," tweeted a netizen.
"He himself (Fauzi) knew that the parents told (sic) to not show the scene but then proceeds to explain it with detail is just gross and disgusting," added another person.
After the incident blew up, Raja Farah and her husband Iskandar Ismail broke their silence in an Instagram video
Iskandar says the actor is at fault whether it is in regards to culture or religion.
"First of all, it's wrong at all levels," he asserts.
"This is disrespectful towards women. [...] Especially since the woman is already married. So, I think it is not appropriate."
In the six-minute video, he goes on to reprimand the actor for creating an awkward situation for them to respond to.
He advises the actor to ask himself whether he would make such a remark when the person is his sister or mother. If he won't, Iskandar says the actor should not have done it.
Raja Farah hopes that those who were involved in the conversation will apologise personally.
Actress Raja Farah Aziz is shown in the video, while her husband speaks from behind the camera in their response to the issue.
Image via @rajafarahraziz (Instagram)
The next day, 20 October, Fauzi published an apology video on his Instagram account.
In a four-minute long video, he admits that he was ignorant and had no intention of embarrassing his co-star.
The actor says he is sorry and that he accepts all the criticism thrown at him. He also shares that he had told the production crew of the show to remove some of the things he said as he felt like he had overshared while chatting with the group of men.
"After the recording, I realised some parts needed to be censored so that it won't be aired. Sadly, the show was aired twice," Fauzi laments.
"I didn't know until today after the video went viral. With all that said, I admit I was wrong. I am in the midst of improving myself to become a better person."
If you or someone you know may be at risk or has experienced sexual abuse or assault, please reach out to these Malaysian organisations:
1. WOMEN'S AID ORGANISATION (WAO)
Operating hours: 24-hour
Contact: +603-30008858
SMS/WhatsApp: +6018-9888058
Website | Facebook | Twitter
2. ALL WOMEN'S ACTION SOCIETY (AWAM)
Operating hours: Weekdays (9.30am - 4.30pm)
Contact: +603-78770224
WhatsApp: +6016-2284221 | +6016-2374221
Email: telenita@awam.org.my
Website | Facebook | Twitter
3. WOMEN'S CENTRE FOR CHANGE PENANG (WCC PENANG)
Operating hours: Weekdays (9am - 5pm)
Contact: +604-2280342 | +604-3988340
WhatsApp: +6011-31084001 | +6016-4390698
Email: wcc@wccpenang.org
Website | Facebook | Twitter
4. SARAWAK WOMEN FOR WOMEN SOCIETY (SWWS)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (9am to 5.30pm)
Contact: +6082-422660
SMS/WhatsApp: +6013-8044285
Email: sarswws@gmail.com
Website | Facebook | Twitter
5. SABAH WOMEN'S ACTION-RESOURCE GROUP (SAWO)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (9am to 2pm)
Contact: +6088-280200
Email: sawo.women@yahoo.com
Website | Facebook | Twitter
6. PROTECT AND SAVE THE CHILDREN (PS THE CHILDREN)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (8.30am to 5.30pm)
Contact: +6016-2273065 | +6016-7213065
WhatsApp: +6016-7213065
Email: protect@psthechildren.org.my
Website | Facebook | Twitter
7. INTERNET WATCH FOUNDATION (IWF)
Anonymously and confidentially report child sexual abuse content and non-photographic child sexual abuse images with IWF’s Reporting Portal.
As netizens spoke out against normalising rape culture, national diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong took to Twitter to say that the country needs good leaders who can tackle sexual harassment issues:
Malaysia has had a concerning slew of sexual harassment and abuse cases in the past year:
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