Former Malaysian first lady Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has filed a defamation lawsuit against comedian and actor Harith Iskander, alleging that he humiliated and mocked her appearance during a stand-up comedy performance earlier this year.
In court documents filed on 9 June, the 75-year-old claimed Harith insulted her physical appearance during his “Harith Iskander: The Outspoken Comedy Tour” show at the Swiss-Garden Hotel in Melaka in January.
According to Rosmah’s statement of claim, Harith allegedly told the audience that anyone looking into their rear-view mirror while driving on a dark road would “see something frightening” before displaying an image of a ghostly figure, followed by a photograph of Rosmah.
She argued that the sequence clearly portrayed her as something frightening and associated her with a supernatural being.
Rosmah claimed the remarks were made maliciously with the intention of humiliating her, damaging her reputation and subjecting her to public ridicule through alleged body-shaming.
She argued that the comparison was particularly serious because it was delivered during a live comedy performance for the purpose of entertaining an audience and generating laughter at her expense.
The lawsuit, filed through the legal firm Hafarizam & Aisha Mubarak, names Harith Iskander Musa, 60, as the defendant.
Rosmah also alleged that two clips from the performance were uploaded to TikTok by a user identified as @mayychan0303. According to the court filing, one video received more than 219,700 views and 3,354 likes, while another attracted 12,500 views and 145 likes.
She contended that the videos further damaged her reputation as a public figure, the wife of a former prime minister, patron of various charitable organisations and recipient of numerous awards and honours both in Malaysia and internationally.
Among the remedies sought are general, aggravated and exemplary damages, a court injunction preventing further publication of the alleged defamatory material, as well as an unconditional public apology and written retraction to be published in two mainstream newspapers and on social media platforms approved by her or her lawyers.
Rosmah’s lawyers, Mohamed Baharudeen Mohamed Ariff and Nur-Diana Ezlyn Hashim, confirmed the lawsuit and said case management has been scheduled for 31 July.
Harith’s lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, also confirmed the legal proceedings.
In his statement of defence, Harith denied that the performance portrayed Rosmah as a ghost, something frightening, evil, ugly, disgusting, inhuman or carried any defamatory meaning as alleged.
He further argued that the TikTok clips were uploaded without his knowledge or consent and did not reflect the full context of the comedy performance.
