This week has seen yet another episode of the Bassem Youssef saga. Unfortunately, it wasn't aired on TV or YouTube but was of the legal kind. Indeed, the satirist, and his production partner Qsoft, have announced on his official Facebook page [1] that they have decided to terminate their contract with the program's host channel, CBC.
Earlier this month, CBC has decided to suspend the popular TV show [2], whose return was much anticipated by the 30 million weekly viewers around the Arab world, alleging [2] that the content of the first episode “violated what was agreed upon with CBC.”
Khalid Mansour, writer and comedian (he's the world famous “Gamahir” character in the show) tweeted this laconic and ironic picture:
The lesson is over, stupid. #Egypt [3] #مصر [4] pic.twitter.com/bLMrjtS973 [5]
— Khalid Mansour (@KhalidMans) November 17, 2013 [6]
The news was more or less expected and for some, it was even a reason to hope. Among them is film director Ahmad Abdallah, who tweeted [ar]:
اتمنى لو #باسم_يوسف [7] فعلا فسخ عقد cbc انه اول مايتم الفسخ قانونا يعرض الحلقة الموقوفة ع يوتيوب؟ ويخليها Creative commons فالقنوات تذيعها؟
— Ahmad Abdalla (@ahmada2) November 17, 2013 [8]
I hope that if Bassem Youssef terminates his contract with CBC, he'll post the banned episode on YouTube under Creative Commons license so that channels can show it
Writer Bassem Sabry is also optimistic:
I really hope this is the beginning of an era for Bassem Youssef rather than an end of one. He can pull it off.
— Bassem Sabry باسم (@Bassem_Sabry) November 17, 2013 [9]
The hashtag [ar] #واحشنا_يا_باسم #WeMissYouBassem expressed the Egyptian Twitterati's desire to see Youssef's return soon. Popular street artist Keizer dedicated [10] one of his painting to Bassem which goes to show that his popularity is still very high despite only being on air once since the beginning of the season:
[11]Artist Keizer dedicates one of his drawings to Youssef