Fellow celebrities express support for Hussain Al Jassmi after online bullying

Emirati singers Ahlam and Fayez Al Saeed are among those who have defended fellow musician Hussain Al Jassmi after he became the target of online bullying over a tweet from last week.

Some Twitter users accused Al Jassmi of "jinxing" Lebanon, which has been left shaken following major explosions in Beirut, after the Emirati singer tweeted his love for the country on Saturday, August 1, days before the incident.

“I will love Lebanon until the end of the world,” Al Jassmi wrote. His message was posted on the occasion of the Lebanese Army Day on August 1, for which he performed a song via live-stream during celebrations in the country.

Both the tweet and the video, which was posted to YouTube on August 4, were shared before the blasts. However, comments on Twitter turned conspiratorial as some claimed that Al Jassmi had somehow doomed Lebanon through his message.

A wave of support for Al Jassmi from fans and celebrities quickly followed. An Arabic hashtag #حسين_الجسمي_كلنا_نحبك, which translates to “Hussain Al Jassmi, we all love you”, is currently trending on Twitter in the UAE with over 16,000 tweets.

Ahlam tweeted that he was “the pride of my country” accompanied by a photo of the singer, while Al Saeed posted a picture of him with Al Jassmi on Instagram with the caption, “Don’t let this shake you. God knows your generosity and your innocence... We are proud of your art.”

Egyptian musician Mostafa Gad also took to social media with a photo of himself and the singer, calling Al Jassmi a respected “brother” and “friend”. “What is happening is absolute stupidity and lack of manners towards an artist who has brought nothing but happiness to each and every Arabic home”.

Al Jassmi’s brother Saleh also tweeted solidarity. “He loves his Arab homeland... and does not differentiate between nationalities,” he wrote.

Al Jassmi has yet to issue a comment.

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