The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) warned Astro yesterday for promoting beauty products which allegedly mocked the skin and appearance of others.
The statement was issued in response to the Gegar Vaganza 5 concert, a reality programme for professional singers, that aired on Astro Ria earlier this month.
The MCMC said in the statement an investigation was being conducted following public complaints.
While promoting his beauty products during the concert, host and sponsor Datuk Seri Aliff Syukri Kamarzaman shocked audiences by selecting a woman in the audience whom he described as “ugly” to test his D’Herbs product on.
That evening, the cosmetics millionaire was also labelled a racist for making fun of singer Santesh’s skin colour.
“Astro attended a meeting with MCMC on November 7 to explain details of the incident as well as the precautionary measures and corrective actions taken.
“The apology from the sponsors and Astro was released during the November 11 broadcast programme,” the statement read.
It also said to prevent similar incidents from happening again, Astro has pre-recorded any segment that involves major sponsors of the programme.
“The MCMC takes the matter seriously and has issued a warning to Astro to ensure that incidents like this won’t repeat itself.”
Following widespread criticism from the public, the Abang Nak Tegur singer defended his actions by saying he merely misused the word “ugly” and has since apologised. – Malay Mail