Kate Hudson's Bizarre Dubai Tourism Video Met With Human Rights Backlash
By Jeff Mazzeo on January 13, 2020 at 12:28 PM EST
Kate Hudson's advertisement for Dubai tourism and the United Arab Emirates has rubbed some fans the wrong way.
The actress shared several photos and a bizarre video from her recent trip to her Instagram and her snaps featured Gwyneth Paltrow and Zoe Saldana.
"My journey through DUBAI! So much fun ? #Dubai #AStoryTakesFlight," Kate wrote in the caption of her post.
The shots looked absolutely stunning but that was the point, right? Hudson was most likely paid a boatload of cash to make Dubai look like the most happening place in the world and she even starred in a bizarre tourism video that almost played out like a movie.
Instagram/katehudson
Kate or someone on her team probably could have guessed that some people would be upset with her blatant advertisement. It must have been a pretty lucrative deal since they went through with it. Don't get us wrong, we are not hating on the actress making a couple of bucks but numerous fans did. They claimed that the government that paid for the ad is guilty of human rights violations.
"In Dubai, you risk many years in prison for being gay. This is one of the truths that lies behind the Emirates' insta-friendly facade," one motivated follower wrote. "The truth is that a brutal reality is hidden behind the city's glamorous facade."
Another fan pleaded with the star, "Please dont support the tourism in this countries," while a different user wrote, "Dubai is rife with human rights abuses, why give them your tourism?"
"BEING GAY IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH AND STONING IN DUBAI. Why support the government and tourism there?" a fan asked. "You have so much money already? They literally kill people for being gay. ??"
Gettyimages | owngarden
2019 was supposed to be a "Year of Tolerance" for the United Arab Emirates but they fell well short of their goal, according to the Insider
The publication pointed out that the United Nations criticized the country in 2019 for keeping the political activist, Ahmed Mansoor, locked up. Mansoor was sentenced to 10 years for speaking out against the government and the UN urged the UAE "to promptly and unconditionally release Mansoor and to ensure that individuals are not penalized for expressing views critical of the Government or its allies."
The Insider even pointed out that the global press poked fun when the government-sponsored "gender balance" award recipients were all men.
The article dives deeper into the alleged un-tolerant events that went down before the turn of the decade.
Many celebrities recently faced backlash for doing the same thing Kate did but in the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia. They were promoting a music festival named MDL Beast that went down in the city of Riyadh. A ton of celebrities posted from the event including Armie Hammer, Ryan Phillippe, Winnie Harlow, Sofia Richie, Irina Shayk, Scott Disick, Ed Westwick, Alessandra Ambrosio and many more. Their trip also rubbed people the wrong way.
