Renowned fashion designer Maria B has apologized on Friday after coming under fire for filming a photoshoot video in a graveyard.
A member of the Abbasid family, the rulers of Bahawalpur, invited the fashion designer to shoot in his ancestral graveyard without permission.
Chang Khan, who posted screenshots taken from the video of the shoot, alleged that the model in the video was dancing on her grandfather’s grave.
Soon after the pictures went viral, netizens slammed the designer and called him out for the provocative act.
After a backlash on social media, Maria B apologized and deleted the video of the shoot from her official Instagram account.
“The recent shoot for our brand was planned by a production house and executed with the concept of showcasing our rich cultural heritage in Bahawalpur,” wrote the designer.
He added, “The shoot was edited and published without any prior knowledge of the significance and sanctity of the site. We are grateful to those who pointed out the error and we have removed all relevant material. Removed and took immediate action.”
“We sincerely apologize to all those who were understandably upset by this tragic event,” said Maria B.
However, her apology was not enough for social media users and they continued to bash her for the photo shoot.
“This seems illogical. You and your team didn’t realize that shooting in a graveyard would be difficult,” wrote one user.
“And this is why history of art and architecture, and culture and heritage should be important subjects at school level. Start them young, so they don’t make the same mistakes as adults,” wrote another.
“How unprofessional is it that you are going to shoot at a site that you have no knowledge of? Secondly, you are pointing out your production house team for this unfortunate incident. But you are equally responsible for it because you need to have a solid knowledge of the respective site to lead. As an audience we expect such irrational behavior from such a popular and extended brand. Can’t. But the good thing about complimenting is that you accept it instead of being defensive. Be careful next time,” said one of the users.
Many people also came in support of him and praised him for apologizing for the mistake.
