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Designer Maria B, whose real name is Maria Butt, sent a Rs100 million defamation notice on Saturday to Turkish influencer Türkan Atay, who publicly accused her of failing to pay her in full for a brand shoot in Turkey earlier this year. On Thursday, Atay issued a legal notice to the designer for $8,000 and a formal apology.

Atay shared multiple Instagram videos in which she claimed Maria B’s team hired her to manage a production for the brand’s 2025 campaign but failed to follow through on the agreed compensation. Atay said she was clear from the outset that she would charge per dress, inclusive of all production costs such as location, models, and videography.

To support her claims, Atay shared what she alleges are screenshots of her conversations with the Maria B team’s PR manager. In these messages, the influencer had allegedly stated, “Per outfit with touristic location and professional video [redacted] USD,” to which the manager agreed. However, the brand later allegedly issued a lump-sum payment, claiming they had misunderstood the pricing structure. Atay reportedly contacted the designer directly, who denied having any hand in the payment process.

After both Butt and Atay shared multiple videos and posts about the situation, Atay issued Butt a legal notice for $8,000 — a sum that includes legal fees of $2,000, the remaining $1,000 as agreed upon in her initial discussions with a representative for the brand, and a further $5,000 for mental anguish caused.

In the legal notice filed for Butt by barrister Khadija Siddiqi under Section 8 of The Defamation Ordinance, 2002, it is noted that Butt is “widely recognised for her tireless social activism, philanthropy and her steadfast commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights. Notably, [Butt] has been a prominent voice in advocating for the rights of Palestinians. Her recent tireless efforts for Palestine are known to all whereby she single handedly raised and sent enormous monetary support to them.”

The notice also details other contributions she had made to Pakistan, both nationally and internationally.

“Since April 20, 2025, you have been continuously publishing and posting frivolous, malicious, contumacious, preposterous and defamatory videos and several stories (that disappear after 24 hours automatically) on your Instagram account, having the username @turkanpk. You being the sole author of the video and stories disseminated wild, shameless and baseless allegations against [Butt],” alleges the notice.

“In the videos and the stories you posted, you have leveled several allegations against [Butt] including but not limited to ‘’Palestine aur Islam k naam pe business chalati hain,’ ‘Maria tou sab se bari dhokeybaz/jhooti hai,’ ‘2 number aurat and two faced aunt’, ‘Dou numberi k kaam,’ ‘Thu hai tumharey muhn par,’ ‘Usko sharam nahi ati’ and others.”

The notice alleged that the allegations levelled by Atay received “massive outreach and vast publication through the print, digital and electronic media”. It claims that the “defamatory allegations were deliberately posted to diminish and tarnish the dignity, reputation and standing in the eyes of the public, both in Pakistan and internationally”.

Atay’s allegations are being denied as “absolutely baseless, deeply malicious, outrageously frivolous intending to publicly humiliate, degrade, defame and ridicule her. They are evidently the product of an inimical, prejudicial and biased mind. Your accusations were only meant to damage the image of [Butt] and to settle personal scores with her”.

The designer is demanding an unconditional apology, to be published and circulated within 14 days of the receipt of this notice, as well as damages of Rs100 million and for Atay to cease posting any further defamatory statements immediately.

Atay’s notice

Atay’s legal notice, dated April 24 and filed on her behalf by her counsel Rana Intezar, demands Butt pay $8,000 within seven days of receipt of the notice as well as post a “written public apology across all platforms where such defamatory material was posted”.

The noticed stated that when Atay “rightfully demanded the remaining agreed payment, instead of resolving the matter professionally, Maria B began a malicious defamation campaign on social media”.

“The brand falsely accused my client of demanding ‘extra charges’ and misled the public by claiming they had been arranging meetings to settle the dispute, whereas no meetings ever took place. Due to your baseless and defamatory statements targeting our client, especially relating to sensitive and untrue allegations about LGBTQ affiliations and script involvement, Ms Türkan Atay has suffered immense mental distress, emotional trauma and reputational damage both personally and professionally,” read the notice.

It added that Atay experienced a “significant loss of followers and engagement on social media, directly impacting her professional image and future opportunities”.

Atay’s notice states that failure to comply with these demands within the stipulated time will compel her to initiate appropriate legal action against the designer.