Nuseir Yassin, the founder of Nas Daily, announced the temporary suspension of Nas Academy in the Philippines due to recent controversies he’s currently embroiled in.
His Facebook page, which boasts of 20 million followers, also witnessed an avalanche of “unfollowers” amounting to 679,000 people, according to SocialBlade.
Nas Daily: “It’s my turn to speak”
Yassin broke his silence on Monday (August 9) with a six-minute video addressing the allegations made against him by Cacao Project founder Louise de Guzman Mabulo.
Mabulo had accused Yassin of exploiting her culture for ‘clickable’ content and claimed that he was extremely rude and disrespectful.
She also alleged that he “didn’t care about making a change or shedding light on real issues“.
In the video, Yassin hit back at Mabulo, claiming that his team had spent considerable time researching and verifying sources.
Unfortunately, we stumbled upon a fake story in the Philippines, which is the Cacao Project.
On paper, it was supposed to be a non-profit that helps farmers. In reality, it’s a for-profit that exploits farmers. We said we cannot do this video in good conscience.”
He also denied accusations that claimed he had made a mockery of the farmers and their accent.
The Whang-od fiasco
Yassin also announced his decision to suspend Nas Academy’s operations in the Philippines in light of the controversy involving Whang-od, a 104-year-old traditional tattoo artist from Kalinga.
This comes after Whang-od’s grandniece Gracia Palicas called him out for tricking her grandmother into signing a contract that allowed him to set up an academy. She also called upon Filipinos to not let anyone “take advantage of their culture”.
Nas also shared that the National Commission on Indigeneous Peoples Cordillera (NCIP) is currently looking into the legitimacy of the contract.
In response, Yassin said that he had obtained permission from Whang-od.
We worked with the family directly and got their consent while making sure they had support during these difficult times.”
“We paused Nas Academy for now to work with NCIP to make sure everything is legal,” he added.
Nuseir Yassin is a figure widely known for his videos documenting his travel experiences around the world.
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Cover Images via FB/Nas Daily
Author: Raymond Chen
Proofreader: Grace Choong
