A beauty brand blurred Malaysian actress Ruhainies' face in an advertisement following her controversy with Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz.

The brand, Kitsui, focuses primarily on beauty products and supplements.

It featured Malaysian actress Ruhainies in their latest advertisement, along with singer Wany Hasrita and actor Hisyam Hamid.

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In an apparent effort to distance themselves from Ruhainies' latest controversy, the brand pixelated the actress's face in the advertisement.

Her name was left uncensored, along with text introducing her as an "actress and famous personality".

The company has since issued a statement on the matter via Instagram, explaining that they had filmed the advertisement prior to the scandal.

The post received mostly positive reactions, with commenters praising the brand's actions.

"In conjunction with the month of Ramadan, Kitsui humbly apologises over any inconvenience caused especially with our post that involved a famous local artiste," the statement said.

It clarified that the advertisement was filmed in October 2023.

"In relation to the khalwat case involving one of the artistes, Kitsui hopes this will not affect the screening of the commercials since the filming was completed in December of 2023 with the help of 100 employees and production crew," the statement added.

Khalwat refers to restrictions on a man and woman being alone and in close proximity if they are not married or are close relatives.

The statement said:

"Kitsui does not support anyone who has behaved badly or in a controversial manner."

The company also stated that they would be donating a portion of their profits to those in need.

Background

Ruhainies was embroiled in controversy after Malaysian religious authorities arrested her and Aliff for allegedly being in close proximity with each other at her condominium.

Aliff said that initial media reports were "exaggerated", and offered an account of what allegedly happened that day, saying he was in the living room waiting for Ruhainies's siblings to arrive so that they could all have dinner together and that "nothing went down between us."

Nonetheless, Aliff's wife Bella Astillah, has filed for divorce.

Ruhainies also posted her side of the story on Instagram, saying that after she had finished filming, she was heading home with her personal assistants.

"My siblings planned to sleep at my place, so we decided to eat with them and a few other friends. Since Aliff had also just finished filming, I invited him to come along because he's also known my family for 10 years now. He agreed because he hadn't seen them in a long time," she added.

She and Aliff decided to head home as her sister was stuck in a traffic jam.

While she and Aliff were caught up in conversation, they heard someone knocking on their door, followed by a man's voice.

Afraid for her safety, she asked her sister to come home as soon as possible to check who was at the door.

Ruhainies' statement also alleged that Bella and members of the media were also present.

Previous reports stated that Jawi officers contacted Malaysia's Fire and Rescue department, who threatened to force their way in to the condominium after a three-hour stand off.

Ruhainies wrote that she "admitted her mistake in terms of religion".

However, she maintained that Aliff and her were just friends.

"Aliff has also been a friend and acquaintance of my family for the past 10 years. I want to apologise for letting this matter drag on without an explanation which caused a few parties to manipulate various untrue and inaccurate facts."

She added that she "treasured" her friendship with Bella and said that she is willing to talk to Bella "whenever she's ready".

Her statement comes after Bella revealed that Ruhainies had not contacted her at all after the controversy, Malaysian media The Star reported.

Bella told The Star Ruhainies' actions were unexpected, saying:

"I forgive, but I cannot forget. I do not know if in the future we will meet; I have not thought about that yet. I just hope I will not meet her."

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