A timeline of every celebrity reaction to the LSA nomination controversy
Lux Style Awards has long been synonymous with controversy but this year's backlash is different.
The nominations released by LSA on March 30 included an artist accused of sexual harassment. The pushback was instant, with model Eman Suleman withdrawing her nomination in protest the same night.
And after a brief lull, Eman's statement snowballed into a much larger movement with several more nominees refusing to participate in the LSA for honouring an accused harasser. Other industry members have chimed in with their views, some applauding the walkouts and others criticising them.
Keeping track of who said what can be confusing. We'll break it down for you.
March 30: Eman Suleman refuses to share her LSA nomination with an alleged harasser
The model is the first to speak out and refuses to share the platform with the accused, saying that she has chosen to withdraw her nomination from the 'Best Emerging Talent in Fashion' category.
In a short video on Instagram, Eman said: "I was extremely honoured to be nominated for the Lux Style Awards. What I'm going to say next is probably going to result in a lot of eyerolls and vitriol. [But] I do not wish to be part of an accolade that is shared with an alleged harasser. I feel no joy. Maybe give the nomination to someone who feels happy about it. I don't. I am basically done."
April 6: Hareem Farooq calls out people for supporting alleged harassers
A week later, with the backlash to Mehwish Hayat's Tamgha-i-Imtiaz win and Eman Suleman's LSA nomination refusal still fresh in everyone's minds, Hareem at the SZAB Media Festival said, "We're living in a time where women receiving such prestigious awards are questioned but nobody stands up and questions when a harasser is getting awards."
April 22: Generation and Saima Bargfrede reject their LSA nominations
Within a few weeks of Eman Suleman's rejection, clothing brand Generation and make up artist Saima Bargfrede issue a joint statement saying that they too have rejected their nominations to stand in solidarity with victims of sexual harassment.
"The two entities have been nominated for awards in different categories and believe that by accepting any nomination or award and participating in LSA 2019 would be doing a disservice to the cause of women's empowerment and the urgent need to address the menace of sexual harassment," read their statement.
Generation had been nominated for an award in the category of 'Achievement in Fashion Design (pret)' while Bargfrede has been nominated for 'Best Hair and Makeup Artist' at this year’s Lux Style Awards.
April 23
Meesha Shafi rejects her Best Song nomination
A day later Meesha Shafi also withdrew her nomination. She asked the Lux Style Awards to remove her song Mein from its list of Best Song nominations. Her tweet read, "I want to thank Eman Suleman. What she, Generation and Saima Bargfrede have said and done is what I consider my award."
She went on to say, "In a perfect world, I would love to see women retain their space in the industry while being safe, so that the cost of speaking up is minimized, or even done away with altogether. A cost which is all too high at present. Our boycotts should not overshadow our achievements. With brave women like these, I feel optimistic about getting there one day."
The Sketches follows suit and drops out of the LSAs
Later the same day folk band The Sketches also dropped out of the Lux Style Awards.
The band, which has been nominated in four categories (Best Song, Best Playback Singer, Best Original Soundtrack and Singer Of The Year), said it decided to withdraw from the LSA race in a press statement on Tuesday night.
"Our reason is simply based on our values and principles, which, we will not bend for any award," said the band in its statement.
Talking about its desire to support Pakistan's #MeToo movement, the band said, "Even after being silenced, threatened, mistreated, and judged, women in Pakistan are rising too. They are stepping down from LSA because they stand with survivors of sexual harassment. Without passing judgment on any individual's character, the band considers it our responsibility to applaud & encourage these brave women to speak and be heard."
April 24
Jami strikes back by dumping his LSA awards on the street
The director who has been vocal on social media about the award's harassment controversy chose to leave one of his LSA statuettes on the streets as a sign of retaliation.
Speaking to Images the director said, "Putting out our (Jami and Azadfilm company) Lux Award is an extreme reaction to an extreme action. LSA should've been more careful and sensitive towards women and their massive harassment issues. This time I feel LSA completely missed the point by not taking our women’s point and stories seriously."
Shamoon Abbasi is dumbfounded by all the walkouts
The same day actor Shamoon Abbasi took to Twitter to call the LSA walkouts "baseless" citing that Meesha Shafi was fined Rs10,000 as she was unable to provide proof of harassment allegations against Ali Zafar in the court.