Nadia Khan speaks to Instep about her traumatic experience with a casting agency in Dubai.
Nothing can be more terrifying for an actor than walking into an audition room. An audition demands much more than a regular, corporate job interview because one can still predict the job interview format. Therefore, what happened recently with Nadia Khan and her 14-year-old daughter in Dubai during an audition for an international project was completely unacceptable and unfathomable.
Once hailed as the queen of morning shows, Khan shared her horrifying experience in a video that quickly went viral online. “When my daughter’s turn came, the judge grabbed her roughly from the shoulder and pulled her, leaving her with deep bruises on both arms. She was grabbed and pushed so hard she fell on one of the parents,” she said.
Khan has lived in Dubai for a very long time therefore she knew just what to do in such a situation. Gladly, she did not leave the room red-faced but exposed the entire audition unit and the team involved. She filed a complaint against the CEO of the talent agency, claiming that he physically assaulted Khan’s daughter during the audition.
According to Khan, here’s what went down: numerous children had arrived for the casting session at a posh hotel in Dubai in the hope of landing a spot in a prestigious international project. The audition was reportedly disrupted after Khan called the police at the venue and the company’s 47-year-old CEO was held for questioning.
The American actor/producer, whose agency claims to represent some of the biggest music and television shows in the United States, was later summoned to a local police station where a complaint was filed.
Right after the horrific incident, Khan took her daughter to Dubai’s Rashid Hospital where a medical report concluded that the multiple bruises on both arms were caused by assault. The 14-year-old’s arms remained sore for days afterwards.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. No one has the right to touch my child let alone subject her to public humiliation and physical abuse,” shared a tearful Khan in the video. She also revealed that the incident had shattered her daughter’s confidence.
When Khan tried to raise the issue with the organisers, they rudely instructed her to leave. According to her, the next Asian contestant was slapped in the face during the audition. “It was bizarre. The man kept slapping the child until a time came when the boy couldn’t take it anymore and slapped him back. I feel equally bad for the boy. Abuse is abuse whether it happens to a boy or a girl,” she said.
The CEO of the talent hunt agency is notorious for similar acts. A YouTube video from a similar event in Singapore shows him spitting on a young girl. While the police was conducting the investigation, they found that the talent and management agency was using a classic ‘bait and switch’ sales strategy to lure parents and in return ask for a huge sum of money. “This is a rip-off. They are just after your money,” said a parent whose child was recommended the Fifth Option Level and asked to fork out $7,900.
Khan also shared that these agencies ask for astronomical amounts of money from parents when their children make the cut. And that still doesn’t guarantee them the role as the money is supposedly taken for further training and grooming.
Speaking exclusively to Instep in Dubai, Nadia explained that “…incidents like these have a long lasting impact on a child’s mentality. What happened with my child could happen to anyone out there. It is extremely important that you check the background and credibility of the agencies you want to associate yourself with. They had strictly and rudely asked us to refrain from using phones or film the audition process which had created some doubts in my mind anyway.”
On asking about the status of the case, she mentioned “That person, Micheal David and some of his staff from Premiere Talent Agency are not allowed to leave the country unless the issue is resolved. Based on my legal team’s instructions, I cannot share further details but I have full faith in Dubai police.”
She concluded by sharing her concerns: “Sometimes we don’t know what we are getting into and such cases have become very common. People like Michael and their agencies go from country to another country and rip off people like this. It’s a scam and parents must be extremely cautious. Just because they are from the West or are foreigners doesn’t guarantee that there won’t be anything suspicious. YouTube is filled with videos of Michael’s erratic behaviour during auditions in other parts of the world.”
We know that Nadia Khan has always had a mind of her own and has always called a spade a spade. There is great learning in the way she dealt with the entire issue by ensuring that the matter was reported to the police immediately and she had evidence to support her case.
– Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainmentjournalist. He is also anInstep correspondent and can be contacted on hispage fb/sidsaidso.