YouTuber Taimoor Salahuddin, commonly known as Mooroo, has countless subscribers and is one of the more well known Pakistani social media influencers. His content ranges from music to vlogs and podcasts and his work is enjoyed by millions of people.
Recently, while on vacation in Nathia Gali, Mooroo was uploading stories to Instagram as per routine.
The video captured him in dialogue with a huge spider on his bedroom wall, with which he was engaging in mockery. But things got serious really fast and sparked a reaction among his audience, who found what he said to be extremely problematic.
Mooroo began by telling his audience where he is with his family and proceeded to say that he was having a great time, except that there is no domestic help there so they have to handle chores on their own. After stating that he will now introduce his audience to his dost he flips the camera over to the wall, where there’s a big spider.
Mooroo, now pretending to be the spider, says, “Tumhe pata hai jab raat ko tum sou jaoge na, mein tumhare muh mein aa ke anday dedoongi…aur uske baad jub mere andon mein se bache niklenge, woh tumhari brain ko capture karlenge!” Mooroo then flips the camera back over to himself and tells the spider that he isn’t scared of her, and if she enters his mouth, he’ll lick her up.
I’m severely disappointed at you casually making a child molestation joke, not once but twice. I really thought you were better than this. @Mooroo4 pic.twitter.com/INFxuM8x7R
— Elon Khusk (@therealsnorky) June 1, 2019
As for the kids, he says and I quote, “Main toh hee child molester.”
It’s needless to explain why this could be taken as a very serious issue, even if it was meant for a light-hearted skit. Child molestation is an extremely sensitive matter and this story could have left many of his followers extremely uncomfortable. But it also didn’t stop there.
After this, we see Mooroo’s wife, Eruj, leaning in against the spider as he warns her to back away because they release venom into your mouth which can turn you into a spider…and then continues to speak about child molestation – this time in the spider’s voice.
“Barra child molester aaya tu, mein raath ko teri biwi ko khaa jaungi”, he says in the spider’s voice. He then flips the camera back to himself, gives a wicked laugh, and tells the spider she doesn’t know what his wife is capable of.
This ‘joke’ left thousands of people in shock and discomfort, especially because Mooroo is otherwise known to be quite woke. Moreover, he also loves working with children, and has been seen engaging with them on multiple occasions.
Saying something like “mein toh hun he child molester” is rather insensitive on his part and is quite inexcusable. Naturally, people were quick to react.
So .@Mooroo4 thinks it’s okay to make jokes about being a child molester? He thinks it’s okay to bring thing up like this so lightly? Don’t come at me saying it’s just humour. It’s crass and awful. #mooro pic.twitter.com/AxftKtxG4B
— Rida (@RidaLodhi6) June 1, 2019
Mooroo first had a podcast with an alleged harasser and then made a joke about being a child molester on his Instagram story. Why ! 😐
Never expected this from him.— Uzair Surhio (@uzairsurhio) June 1, 2019
Mooroo is cancelled what a trashy man.
— space chahiye (@almostmonday_) June 1, 2019
Mooroo making child molestation jokes on his Insta story. Another one bites the dust. Really liked his songs, but oh well.
— Saad (@SunYaar) June 1, 2019
Mooroo just joined Sham Idrees and Junaid Akram in the trash bin
— the misandrist next door (@Amnaaww) June 1, 2019
Other people hope he issues an apology soon.
Let’s just hope that Mooroo would apologize for the distasteful jokes and educate his followers, and leave a better example for all the people who follow him. He’s an influencer after all! That’s a big fucking responsibility right there.
— Shummas 🌈🌻 (@CorporateMarasi) June 1, 2019
His fans are incredibly disappointed.
I haven’t seen mooroo’s stories but damnnn im sad x disappointed already love his work but yuhh..
— she-hulk (@ro_oboo) June 1, 2019
Disappointed at Mooroo.
— . (@fahaadbutt) June 1, 2019
I loved Mooroo yaar im disappointed
— . (@Mahnxr) June 1, 2019
Child abuse is an incredibly cruel and pressing issue that we face as a society. The reason why such jokes are unacceptable on all levels (besides the fact that nobody would really find it funny) is that taking them ‘light-heartedly’ only normalizes such vices. MangoBaaz reached out to Mooroo for comment but, till the time of publishing, did not hear back.
Today, however, Mooroo uploaded a video on Instagram, responding to the backlash and offering an explanation.
He starts off by saying that he’s saddened by the fact that he was misunderstood. However, he’s happy that many people raised their voice against an issue as grave as child molestation. Mooroo then adds in the video for which he’s received immense backlash and goes on to say that each joke has a context. He tries to explain that he was playing his part in a conversation with a spider – a creature that comes from a world where issues such as child molestation do not exist. He then goes on to give examples of other creatures that carry out heinous acts, simply because they’re not as evolved as humans and don’t have a moral compass.
Mooroo explains repeatedly that “main spider se usi ki zubaan main baat kar raha tha” and “jaanwar se jaanwar banke baat kar raha tha.” He believes that the context of the joke is essential to understand the joke itself.
You can watch the entire explanation here.
What do you think about this? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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Cover image via @mooroosicity/ Instagram