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Many influencers make mistakes, which social media users are all too quick to highlight. We’re not saying that’s bad. In fact, it’s totally fine because everybody makes mistakes and, as long as we learn from them and apologise for them, that’s okay, because that’s what life is all about.

Being an influencer on social media is a full-time job, and with every single action, there’s ALWAYS going to be a reaction, which brings us to our topic. Hadia Ghaleb’s latest Instagram story turned social media upside-down. A couple of days later, she made an emotional video because loads of people criticised her, which she cited as ‘bullying’.

While bullying is a horrific thing and should, without doubt, be erased in the current day and age, we don’t think that all forms of criticism can be filed under it. As long as they’re not inherently malicious, critiques are actually valid because of the circumstances that warranted them.

This topic got us wondering about public figures who can’t take criticism without it taking a toll on them. And it also got us wondering about Hadia herself, who we know has faced public backlash for other videos. Here are some of them: 

 Attempting A Conference Call Between Rapist Ahmed Bassam Zaki and Rape Survivors

You probably might not remember this (and we won’t blame you for trying to forget), but we are going to remind you of what happened. A couple of years ago, Hadia Ghaleb made a video in which she suggested holding a conference call between the convicted serial rapist Ahmed Bassam Zaki and the people he harassed and raped. Why? So, they could “sort things out together” in the call. What was that about, though? Shouldn’t that type of thing be discussed from a more aware point of view, instead of whatever this was?

Saying the N-word in One of Her Videos

2020 was the start of the era of TikToks, so it made sense that the influencer made a transition to the platform like everyone else. However, it didn’t make sense that she made a TikTok to the song “Good Morning Tokyo!” by Tokyo’s Revenge, which has multiple N-word uses in it and lip-synced to the N-word more than twice—not cool. Just because you’re from North Africa, it doesn’t mean you can say the N-word. It is a sensitive topic for many black people, and it is just not okay to say!

The Jeep Cherokee—The Toyota Yaris Topic

This is the influencer’s most recent video, which is trending everywhere now. Hadia appeared in a video with her mother, in which she said there was a time in her life when her family didn’t have any money. So her mother had to sell her Jeep and bought a Toyota instead. This understandably drove people mad because, come on—sure, we understand she went through a hard time, but didn’t she think many people, across various social standings, try their best just to buy any kind of car. Even if it’s just a “simple Toyota Yaris”?

We perfectly understand that it’s a totally different life for Hadia, who has never been used to living a middle-class life, but she should be aware that she has followers from all walks of life, so the least she could do is consider these particular kinds of statements and how her audience will see it. Doing your homework isn’t that hard.

Criticism Isn’t The Same As Bullying

To reiterate, criticising someone and bullying them is not the same thing. Sure, no one likes to get criticised, but if that happens for a valid reason (or, so you could simply understand something better), then there’s no harm in it. And, there’s no shame in saying ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know better’ before moving on. Everyone, especially famous people who are constantly in the spotlight, knows this—even Hadia herself.

As of writing this, we learned that Hadia has been hospitalized for distress. We wish her a speedy recovery.