• Montaser Criticizes Mehna’s Account of Faten Hamama Refusing to Collaborate with Shadia

• Comments Sparked Widespread Debate on Egyptian Social Media

Egyptian writer Khaled Montaser criticized his fellow musician Hani Mehna over television remarks considered highly controversial, in which he discussed the late actresses Shadia and Faten Hamama.

Montaser expressed his displeasure at Mehna’s claims, in which he alleged that Faten Hamama had refused, many years ago, to participate in a musical duet with Shadia, despite the request reportedly coming from the latter.

Montaser wrote on his official Facebook page: “The statements attributed to musician Hani Mehna exceeded the bounds of decency, especially the offensive term he claimed was linked to the late Faten Hamama in response to Shadia’s request.”

He emphasized that Mehna’s account during the televised interview was completely inaccurate, explaining that Mehna narrated a story suggesting Shadia asked to sing with Faten Hamama after a previous disagreement, only to receive a refusal accompanied by an inappropriate word, which Montaser deliberately did not mention in his post.

His remarks sparked a wave of debate on Egyptian social media after the offensive term aired, according to Montaser, reopening discussions about the reliability of some contemporary artists’ accounts of past cultural icons and igniting public anger in defense of the actresses’ legacy and reputation.