Rosmah sues M'sian comedian Harith Iskander for comparing her to a pontianak during stand-up routine

Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak, is suing Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander for defamation over a stand-up comedy routine she claims mocked and insulted her.

According to The Star, the writ of summons was filed at the High Court on Jun. 9 by Rosmah.

What the routine allegedly involved

The alleged defamation stemmed from Harith's performance at the Swiss-Garden Hotel in Melaka on Jan. 17, titled "Harith Iskander: The Outspoken Comedy Tour".

According to Rosmah's statement of claim, Harith showed images of frightening mythological creatures well known in Malaysia, including the toyol, pontianak and pocong, before showing the audience an image of Rosmah as part of the joke.

The statement of claim read:

"During the performance, the defendant displayed images of scary mythological creatures from Malaysian folklore, including but not limited to the 'toyol', 'pontianak', and 'pocong', before subsequently displaying the plaintiff's image to the audience as part of the joke's narrative."

The statement of claim also alleged that Harith joked about drivers spotting a terrifying figure in their rearview mirror on a dark road, with her image appearing on screen at that moment.

Rosmah, 75, said this was a deliberate attempt to portray her as frightening, damage her reputation, and subject her to public ridicule and body shaming.

She is seeking an unconditional apology along with unspecified general, aggravated and exemplary damages from Harith.

A toyol is a mythical, goblin-like creature, a pontianak is a female ghost, while a pocong is the spirit of a deceased person trapped in its white burial shroud.

Harith's defence

In his statement of defence, Harith denied that the performance was malicious or defamatory.

He added that the routine had to be seen in the full context of a comedy show.

Harith pointed out that Rosmah's case leaned heavily on two clips from a TikTok account @mayychan0303 he said he had no connection to, and argued that the footage did not capture his full 90-minute set, per The Star.

He also said recording and uploading the clips without permission went against the event's house rules.

On the specific moment involving Rosmah's image, Harith said it lasted less than five seconds out of the entire hour-and-a-half performance and was never the focus of the show.

His defence stated that the display was momentary and could not be taken out of the broader context of the performance.

He also said that before the show started, disclaimers and house rules were read out in both Bahasa Malaysia and English, and that his legal team would be relying on these during the trial.