Egyptian reporter apologizes for Oscar blunder amid online trolling

Youm7 journalist Shaimaa Abdel Monem apologized for her Oscar interview blunder on Sunday, saying she hopes this will put an end to the trolling she’s been experiencing.

Abdel Monem was widely mocked after a clip of her asking Leonardo DiCaprio, “What about the first Oscar for you?” in broken English went viral.

The actor seemed baffled, responding, “I’m sorry, what was your question?” prompting Abdel Monem to repeat, “What about your Oscar?” To which DiCaprio responded, “Yeah, it feels amazing.”

By the next day the phrase had become a popular meme, with social media users mocking Abdel Monem’s poor use of English and apparent waste of the last question at the press conference.

Egyptian DJ Kareem AK made two remixes of Abdel Monem and her now infamous question. Restaurants jumped on board, with Miro sushi advertisements asking, “What aboutz your first sushi?”

And the memes didn’t stop there. People made videos and a mug. Others compared the incident to previous Egyptian blunders. Even Volkswagen jumped on the hype, with a campaign saying, “For your first Volkswagen, what about it?”

Many also criticized Youm7 for sending a journalist who was unprepared to cover the Oscars.

The Editor of Youm7 Khaled Salah defended Abdel Monem on Facebook, saying her voice wasn’t clear and it’s common for people to get confused at big events. He asserted that her English is usually good enough for her to ask an intelligible question, adding that “even superstars get confused on stage.”

Abdel Monem said the mistake had caused her, her husband and her children, to suffer as a result of public ridicule.

She said that, even though she had prepared for the interview, she was so caught up in the excitement of the Oscars that she struggled with her English. Being “just steps away from achieving my dream” at such a big event confused me, she explained, adding that she plans to learn from her mistake and is grateful to her editor for the chance, despite her lack of experience. She asserted she would continue and prove herself to be a good journalist.

Before asking her question, Abdel Monem also incorrectly claimed she was the first Egyptian journalist to cover the Oscars.  

The incident was widely covered in Western media and many of those who mocked Abdel Monem referred to the detrimental impact of her question on Egypt’s reputation overseas.

Other memorable incidents of international embarrassment from Egyptian media personalities have included the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper apologizing in English for misquoting the New York Times in an article, and television anchor Amany al-Khayat apologizing to the Moroccan people after claiming the country’s primary income comes from prostitution and most Moroccan citizens are living with HIV/AIDS.

Yet, as well as concern about the ways in which Egyptians are perceived abroad, there is a classist element to mocking a young journalist with bad English skills.

This was also seen in an incident in 2014 that went viral online, in which a woman shouted down a microphone, “Listen Obama, Shut up your mouse, shut up your mouse Obama!” Several television channels exploited her naivety, and she was even uncomfortably featured on Arabs Got Talent.