Double trouble for Nas Daily after being labelled 'scam' and 'exploitative'

Exploitative and scam aren't words you'd immediately associate with Nas Daily, as the vlogger is known worldwide for his positive vibes and impactful one-minute vlogs.

But recently, Nas Daily – whose real name is Nuseir Yassin – was accused of being exploitative and disrespectful by The Cacao Project founder Louise Mabulo, who took to Facebook on Thursday (Aug 5) to detail her experience working with him in 2019. 

Mabulo of the Philippines decided to do so when news of Filipino tattoo artist Apo Whang-Od allegedly being scammed by Nas Academy, helmed by Yassin, broke a day before. 

Yassin swiftly responded, denying both allegations targeted at him.

Nas Academy posted video evidence on Facebook of the tattoo artist herself signing a contract.

In his tussle with Mabulo, the Palestinian-Israeli YouTuber said in a statement that her story of a social entrepreneur looking out for the farmers of her province was factually untrue.

Yassin also questioned the integrity of The Cacao Project.

Is there a tattoo course or not?

Yikes what’s going on here? pic.twitter.com/XqHR35Yi2p

— Tammy David (@tammydavid) August 4, 2021

Yassin, 29, launched Nas Academy in 2020 and the platform offers a variety of classes for aspiring creators to learn from experts like Whang-Od, a well-known tattoo artist from the Philippines' Kalinga tribe who was originally listed on the platform.

But her granddaughter Gracia Palicas, a tattoo artist as well, said Whang-Od never agreed to teach an online class in a Facebook post on Aug 4 and alleged that the ₱750 (S$20) course titled "The Ancient Art of Tattooing" was a "scam". 

Palicas added that her grandmother "did not sign any contract" with Yassin's company to teach any lessons.

She said: "Some people are taking advantage of our culture."

The Cacao Project 'not clickable viewable'

Saying she has remained silent for two years fearing the "backlash for calling out on this man", Mabulo decided to share her experience on Facebook a day after Palicas spoke – the viral post has garnered over 263,000 shares.

She recounted that in 2019, Yassin visited her town to cover The Cacao Project, which says it teaches farmers how to produce cacao responsibly in order to create a more sustainable livelihood for them.

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Unfortunately, their collaboration went nothing like what Mabulo had imagined. She claimed Yassin was not the man he portrayed on screen, did not greet her family upon arriving, nor did he bother to eat her mother's cooking.

In the post, Mabulo alleged that Yassin would "imitate and mock the local accent and language", and continuously questioned why farmers and Filipinos are so poor.

Mabulo's father has also spoken up for her in a separate Facebook post.

During a day of work, he allegedly refused to let anyone eat or take a break, blaming her that everything was neither clickable nor viewable. 

After merely a day of working with him, she had enough. 

She continued: "I should have known better, that this man was exploitative and fuelling a neocolonialist narrative using our need for foreign validation."

Nas Daily responds

Referring to allegations that the tattoo course is a scam, Yassin responded a day later on Aug 5 with a Facebook post highlighting that Whang-Od's niece, Estella Palangdao, was present and translated the contents of the contract to her. 

Whang-Od's thumbprint was also on the contract which, according to Nas Academy, "is the clearest evidence that it is not a scam and achieved the consent of her and her immediate family".

The course has since been removed from Nas Academy.

Subsequently, Yassin took to his Nas Daily Tagalog Facebook page to rebut Mabulo's accusations.

In the post, he reminded The Cacao Project that he flew to her province from Singapore as he was inspired by the story of how she revolutionised the cacao industry there.

But according to him, he would soon find out that Mabulo's story was untrue. 

He wrote: "Once we arrived at your plantation, once we saw the village and talked to the farmers, we came to the conclusion that there is no story here."

Yassin claimed that stories about Mabulo in the media were false and there weren't the supposed "200 farmers that she worked with".

He also accused her of personally profiting from the cacao plantations and eventually decided against covering the project.  

He said: "I will never ever put Fake News on Nas Daily."

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amierul@asiaone.com