Lux Style Awards controversy: Film jury issues statement after eminent nominees pull out

Mired in controversy, the Lux Style Awards has issued a statement after a huge number of celebrities turned their nomination down and decided to boycott from the award show over the nomination of an alleged harasser.

The statement, issued by the LSA film jury on Thursday read, "Over the past 18 years, the Lux Style Awards have been nurturing Pakistani excellence in fashion, films, music and drama. Over these two decades, the Lux Style Awards nominations have been decided by an unbiased, independent and transparent jury of industry peers and critics."

It added, "Neither the Lux Style Awards nor Unilever Pakistan has ever intruded into the independence of the jury's decision. The LSA's jury takes pride in this legacy of merit and authenticity, which have stood the test of time."

The statement continued, "In 2019, the Lux Style Awards have been surrounded by dialog around nominees involved in a matter of sexual harassment. The LSA film jury joins the Lux Brand and Unilever Pakistan in condemning all acts of intolerance, discrimination or harassment."

"However, it is also important to emphasise that the decisions of the film jury were based on an assessment of the merits of cinematic work. We do not consider any other extraneous issues related to the personal characters or actions of people associated with that work," it added.

The statement concluded, "The film jury of the Lux Style Awards appreciates the sensitivity of the subject and recognises the intensity of public sentiment. Nevertheless, it is also important to respect that the cases is being decided by Pakistan's judicial system. We have complete faith in the law of the land and believe that justice will prevail."

Model Eman Suleman was the first to turn down her LSA nomination expressing how she did not wish to be nominated alongside an alleged harasser, giving birth to what can be called a domino effect, as more and more celebrities rejected their nominations to express solidarity with #MeToo survivors, including Generation, makeup artist Saima Bargfrede, filmmaker Jami, model Rubbab Ali, singer Meesha Shafi, folk rock band The Sketches, designer Maheen Khan and makeup artist Fatima Nasir, who requested for their names to be removed from the nominations list.