Moroccan Comedian Faces Backlash for Sexist World Cup Joke, Issues Apology

"What I liked about the national team is that every time we scored, I kissed the girls around me. I think that by dint of kissing, if you had qualified for the final, a girl would have gotten pregnant by me. Fortunately, you didn’t qualify," joked Taliss during a ceremony in tribute to the Atlas Lions, in the presence of the Minister of Culture, Mehdi Bensaid, the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Fouzi Lekjaa, the national coach, Walid Regragui and dozens of guests on site.

This provoked outrage. In a statement, the Moroccan Human Rights Forum called on the comedian to apologize after "insulting Moroccan women". This is now done. He apologized to Moroccans, especially women. He stated that his joke was "spontaneous" and also assured that he had "no intention of insulting or attacking Moroccan women, who play an important role in our society."