Singer Sheds Bin Laden Name, Aims for Stardom
June 3, 2005 Until recently, Wafah Dufour was known as Wafah bin Ladin, a monumental handicap for this aspiring singer.
Her lyrics are in English and the sentiments expressed are clearly Western. But this 25-year-old cosmopolitan woman is a product of several cultures.
Dufour's passport is American, her education European, her heritage Saudi Arabian. She is also the niece of Osama bin Laden. Dufour told Barbara Walters she has "never met him" but still can't escape the name.
"No, I can't. Unfortunately," said Dufour.
She has adopted her mother's maiden name, Dufour, and is now looking to develop a singing career after spending several years living in the United States.
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I say the best of luck to the girl. Hopefully people can get over the fact that her last name is/was... you know, bin Laden.
Yeah, I heard about this a while a go... Bit of a shame that being related to Bin Laden may destroy any chance of her having a career in singing... Damn public!
She's got a long way to go, but I wish her the best.
~Neo
*tumbs up to her*
I remember this. She was originally starting a career in Britain, but was unable to get signed onto any label because people found out who she was related to. :/
I wish her the best. Who knows? She may have a number one in no time. 🙂
That association will stir up some serious predudices if the girl ever gets anywhere.
But we're not that narrow-minded, are we? We can accept that not all Muslims are exactly the same, can't we?
Har har, you wait until the media gets their teeth into her.
I hope her music career goes okay- it's just that the world we're living in is full of prejudice- will the rest of the public really accept her?
Hope so.
Forgive me for being cynical, Harley, but it could have the opposite effect. Think of all of the free publicity that this is getting her, compared to just a random person trying to get known.
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Forgive me for being cynical, Harley, but it could have the opposite effect. Think of all of the free publicity that this is getting her, compared to just a random person trying to get known.
Well, she does seem like a very saavy girl, what with the law degree from Columbia. (Not a school to be scoffed at). I read another, more slandery, gossipy rag, that went into more detail about her party life. You know, stuff on who's she seeing right now, diva temper tantrums, other tabloid things that are generally un-newsworthy and unprofessional. The point is, though, apparently she has a lot of connections with the rich and famous in Manhattan. So could she be exploiting it? Absolutely.
However, rich or spoiled or diva, she still doesn't deserve the sheer shitstorm that surrounds her. Yeah, it's publicity, so good things come out of it, but that doesn't make up for, say, fearing for your life because you've personally displeased the Bin Laden family. Hmmmm... publicity... pissing off Bin Ladens... publicity.... pissing off Bin Ladens... yeah. I think she really gets the worse deal out of it. And if she'd wanted notoriety, why did she change her name to Dufour?
I saw an interview with her, and she doesn't act like other empty-headed pop stars who enjoy attention and smalltalk. More than anything, she seems genuinely afraid.
