PETALING JAYA, Feb 3 — Local celebrity Azwan Ali set Malaysian social media ablaze over the weekend when he burned gifts given to him by Datuk Seri Vida while claiming that the cosmetics tycoon owed him money.
In a Twitter video laden with expletives, Azwan said that Vida had allegedly failed to pay him an appearance fee after he showed up at an event she hosted recently.
“Go and die. Your two sons have been scorched to a crisp and it’s done nothing to make you reflect,” he said, referring to Vida’s children who perished in a house fire seven years ago.
“All you do is get married and get divorced.”
The clip also shows the flamboyant actor setting fire to the perfume and headscarf given to him by Vida in lieu of an appearance fee.
It didn’t take long for the Qu Puteh founder to come forward with an emotional video condemning Azwan’s actions as cruel and insensitive.
“This whole affair has been very challenging for me and I’ve been stressing out a lot over it.
“I’ve been humiliated in ways I could never have expected,” she said in the clip which was shared across her social media profiles.
Vida told mStar that she had invited Azwan to an event in Shah Alam last December as her son Kacak was a fan of his and wanted to meet him in person.
“I told (Azwan) upfront that there would be no appearance fee, so I gave him my brand’s perfume and headscarf as tokens of appreciation.
“He received it willingly and even promoted the perfume for some time by wearing it everywhere he went.
“I was saddened to find out that things turned out this way,” she was quoted as saying.
Public sympathy appears to have tipped in favour of Vida as many social media users left supportive comments on her video and slammed Azwan for his behaviour.
“When I first saw (Azwan’s video) on Twitter, I immediately reported him for being mentally abusive and disrespectful,” wrote woojwee LY on YouTube.
“Be strong Datuk, it doesn’t take a genius to know (Azwan Ali) is a lonely loner. Rise above him,” said Milo Micey.
