CW: Domestic violence, threats, rape.
Channel 9‘s ‘A Current Affair’ had been releasing promos for an exposé on Salim Mehajer, which they were billing to contain videos that would ‘bring Salim’s world crashing down’.
Look – all’s fair in hype and media, but we’ll be straight up here and say they weren’t fuckin’ exaggerating.
The segment went ahead last night. Salim commented previous to it airing, condemning ACA and telling journalist who produced the segment Alison Piotrowski to ‘focus on credible news’, because the footage didn’t hold any weight “emotionally or seriously”.
“No offence, Alison, you are a talented reporter who needs to spend more time getting shaken up by the ‘real’ stories that need ‘real’ awareness, not by an individual yelling into their personal phone camera.Which is the exact reason why I never took any requests to participate or be interviewed for that seriously — because I don’t believe it’s classified as credible news.”
However, all examples of abuse – especially in video format – are an important story, especially in a world that so readily places blame on women for domestic and sexual abuse. Piotrowski told ‘Today’ that the footage was “the most confronting video” she’d seen while at ACA:
“I’ve worked at A Current Affair for nearly eight years now and I’ve seen some very confronting stuff — some we’ve shown on camera, some we haven’t.And I do have to say, this is the most confronting video I’ve seen in my eight years on the show.”
The piece included a compilation of self-filmed smartphone videos of Salim, screaming abuse towards his now-estranged wife Aysha.
He yells that she ‘fucked twelve guys‘, calls her a ‘sl*t’, and then demands repeatedly that she has to call him back within five minutes. And if she doesn’t, he says, he threatens to ‘rape her mum and her dad’.
“Aysha, I hope you die, you sl*t. I swear on the Koran, I swear on God, I’m not leaving today.And I hope you die, you fucking sl*t. You fucked 12 guys, you sl*t. You fucked 12 guys. You fucking sl*t. You fucking sl*t.”
Ahhh… yeah.
We’re going to post a short clip of the videos below, but please be warned that this shows a real life example of violence towards women and domestic abuse. If you have been affected by this issue, we ask you take care if choosing to watch this footage.
Since the show aired last night, Mehajer has deleted his public Facebook page, and has stayed silent on other forms of social media (on which he’s is normally extremely vocal).
It has also been reported that yesterday that he hired public relations adviser Lui Spedaliere to deal with all media inquiries.
Source/Photos: A Current Affair.
Domestic violence is never acceptable. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732. If you feel you have ‘crossed the line’, contact the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491 for anonymous and confidential telephone counselling. If you are in immediate danger, call 000.
