Subscribe Today
Request a Clip
Following are excerpts from a report about a Playboy fashion show in Lebanon, which aired on OTV on May 17, 2010:
Reporter: This spectacle is from Lebanon, and was organized by Lebanese, even though the participants are not Lebanese women. This is a lingerie fashion show, organized by a Lebanese fashion-show agency, in cooperation with Playboy USA, which took place at a specially prepared venue on the road to Dbayeh. This is just like any other international event brought to Lebanon.
Event organizer Nathaly Fadhlallah: I like to shock people, but I like the results to be positive. Anyone who heard the words "Playboy" or "Playmate" thought they were about to see something that was "overkill." Thus, a guessing game began, as usual, even before the event. But as soon as they stepped into the airport, the people and the journalists were shocked. They had expected to see vulgar girls. People think that Playboy girls are stuck up. But they saw nice, good-looking girls, who look just like them. They met girls who were so classy that they enjoyed their company.
Reporter: The lingerie show provoked various reactions. In addition, there were calls to censor the billboards along the roads.
Nathaly Fadhlallah: Why can't we take this a positive, rather than negative, way? First of all, we have invigorates tourism. We brought girls who had thought that this was a very scary country, because they see in the media war, killing, and even some backwardness.
Reporter: A lingerie show on ice – a tumultuous evening in a tourist compound – and TV shows and movies featuring hot scenes… What's next?
Nathaly Fadhlallah: The confusion is caused by people who claim to be talking in the name of honor. We are operating in accordance with Lebanese law. We are committing no violation. We are not showing nudity. This is a very normal fashion show.
There is no point in burying our heads in the sand and being afraid. We claim to have a European orientation, yet we say that this show is shameful, while committing all possible sins, and looking to see where it's all happening. This is the goal of this show.
[...]
Reporter: The show has begun and it will go on for several days, and the organizers have a new surprise.
Nathaly Fadhlallah: Now that we have brought Playboy, we are thinking of bringing something even more powerful.