Crossing boundary between jokes and sexual harassment might exact high price

October 9, 2024

HANOI – The global entertainment industry has recently been shaken by the accusations made against rapper and music mogul P. Diddy, who is facing numerous sexual assault lawsuits from women.

In Việt Nam, a Gen Z rapper has been in the spotlight for several days after making a controversial statement implying that “no need to go to school but you can still become famous” along with instances of sexual harassment on the social network.

Negav, the rapper’s stage name, a rising star based on his appearance on a recent TV show, was also found to have made other controversial comments on celebrities’ Facebook posts some years ago, when he was less well-known.

Netizens found the comments to be vulgar, disappointing many of his followers.

Not stopping there, Negav is also the administrator of 3,000-member Facebook group named ‘Wet tissues’, with many posts containing offensive, even sexually harassing content about young girls and celebrities since 2020.

The most active Facebook user in the group was Negav himself.

A lot of the group’s members – including music idols from the younger generation – reacted to his posts, left comments on them, and made jokes about the obscene and sexually suggestive stories.

Negav’s fans – most of whom are in the same generation as him – consider the ‘jokes’ normal, since they still frequently hear and even use the ‘jokes’ in regular conversation.

Fans continue to stand with Negav and offer him support and protection. They show sympathy by saying that it was just a mistake due to his youth.

Lawyer Diệp Năng Bình from the HCM City Bar Association said Negav’s comments and posts are considered sexual harassment on the Internet and are against the law.

The lawyer defined ‘cyber sexual